First Time For Everything
by Besseria
Summary: Now that the war is over, Starscream's thoughts flood with the idea of finding his significant other but he feels too awkward to go out and find that someone since he's never been in a relationship. Finding the right bot will be hard but maybe he could get some help from someone who has experience in relationships. Maybe even a certain vain medic could help him. KOxSS (M later)
1. Chapter 1

**This story is going to be changed to 'M' rating later but much MUCH later. Probably (and this is just a guess but I'm pretty sure it'll end up being true) sometime after chapter 20 I'll change it.**

****The KOxSS pairing doesn't start until later as well because I want to ease into it and not make it so sudden. I'm guessing sometime after chapter 15.  
****

****Enjoy.****

* * *

Starscream, the once Second in Command of the Decepticon faction, wandered the lower streets of Kaon. The light of his optics were dull as he kept his gaze down at his pedes, his arms crossed over his gash filled frame. His wings were at their lowest point, gashes in them as well.

A great number of the gashes had old energon caked over them. He wasn't a very pretty sight.

His frame would convulse every couple steps, threatening to force him into stasis if he didn't stop to rest. He obliged to his frame's demands and leaned against a wall, sliding down to sit. He brought his knees close to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs.

He closed his optics to try and recharge but just like every other time, he never did. He didn't know why he couldn't but he had some suspicions as to why. Either he was afraid that if he did, he won't ever wake or he was afraid that he would be attacked by the Predacons again.

That's where his current injuries came from but that was years and years ago when that occurred.

They never did heal properly.

If he hadn't escaped in time, he would have been a lot worse. Most likely deactivated.

Starscream rested his helm back against the wall he was sitting against, looking up at the little bit of sky that he could see from down there.

He didn't know how much there was left to do but he was pretty sure that Cybertron was nearly finished being built. No matter how much he would like to see if they rebuilt his home city, Vos, to its rightful glory, he couldn't. Not when his wings were damaged the way they were now. He couldn't even transform into his jet-mode properly without them hurting.

The sky was suddenly blocked by a large aircraft and he looked down at his pedes then, resting his chin on his knees. He let out a deep sigh... so this was his fate. To forever stay down here and rust until he deactivates?

Something beeped in his helm and he checked his internal HUD.

... or he runs out of energon and deactivates that way.

He goes into his subspace and takes out whatever energon he had left on him from some newly growing energon crystals that he found a couple days ago. He knows that he should leave them to grow but he was just too desperate.

Of course, it wasn't much either but he ate it all anyway. It wasn't good to eat the crystals raw but he had no choice in the matter when he didn't have a machine to process it to be consumed the right way.

He coughed after it was down, the raw energon crystals not sitting well in his tanks. At least it was something.

Primus, he was a mess. No bot in their right mind would want to be with him if they saw him the way he was now or find out that he was once the Decepticon Second in Command.

Starscream paused. Where did that thought come from?

He scratched the side of his helm, regretting it after when he felt something spark there. He winced, there must be a couple visible damaged wires. How bad it was, he did not know. Hopefully it wasn't too bad.

He rubbed at his optics, thinking over his previous thought. The only reason that he could think of, that brought on the thought, was that he had nothing to do now. His mind wasn't busy with anything anymore like before. Scientific equations from his Academy days, pride in his ability to beat everyone in Air Combat School and gain the ultimate high score, thoughts on if he should join the Decepticons or not, determination to go through the ranks to try and claim the highest possible position, plan ways to try and deactivate Megatron.

Now, there was nothing.

Now, though, his thoughts were being invaded by things relating to...

... love.

He shivered, tightening his arms around his frame when he felt a chill hit him. That was a sign that Cybertron was going into its evening cycle, when things start to cool down as the metal planet orbits around its sun. It was much colder down below than on the surface.

He rubbed his upper arms to try and warm himself up a bit.

The previous thought came back and he suddenly had the urge to try and find his significant other. He shook his helm, knowing that it was already too late for him. No one would want to be with someone who was a Decepticon, the faction that caused their planet to become uninhabitable in the first place before it was restored. Especially if it was Starscream, the once Second in Command of the Decepticons. One of the few bots that are high on the wanted list. Dead or alive? Preferably dead, according to everyone on Cybertron he bet.

He felt that his frame had rested enough so he got to his pedes once again and continued on his trek through the lower levels of Kaon that no one ever ventures down to anymore. Besides himself and any critters of Cybertron.

If he's lucky enough, he'll come across one of Shockwave's old labs and it could be still functional. If he does find one, hopefully there was a working heater, maybe some left over processed energon.

Ooh, that sounds nice right about now but he was setting the expectations too high.

He thought it over.

He rubbed his upper arms. Hopefully there was at least energon there. Processed or crystal form, doesn't matter anymore.

As he walked, he could feel those exposed wires sparking again, one of his wings twitching with each spark. That wasn't good but he couldn't do anything about it.

As he thought more of wanting the company of someone that he can spend the rest of his life with, the more he felt depressed about the whole idea. No way was that going to happen if that someone turns out to be the wrong bot for him.

Having no company at all is starting to look more promising. Helps with whatever ego and pride he had left. No way was he going to embarrass himself with the fact that he had no experience at all with relationships.

Then again, he doesn't want to be alone for the rest of his life.

He shook his helm. He really needed to think this through but first things first: energon.


	2. Chapter 2

Loud pedesteps echoed throughout the abandoned lab as Shockwave entered it. He long ago removed all ties to the Decepticons but was still working in anything that was science related. That was something that he could not quit doing.

As requested by the higher ups, which was mainly just Ultra Magnus requesting it, he was to go to each and every one of his labs that he had in the war. Which was a lot. To be precise, one thousand six hundred thirty-five. He moved a lot because the lab was either being destroyed by Autobots or he moved to avoid detection.

Most of the time it worked, a few times it didn't and he lost fifty-six labs.

Finding his old labs was keeping him busy though, see if any information is salvageable to be used for the greater good of Cybertron's future. His other half of the Synth-En formula has already proven to be acceptable, that he has truly defected from the Decepticons, but as a side thing; any other information was greatly appreciated.

Shockwave didn't mind because it was good to see that the labs that he has come across already were still accessible and functioning. The one he just entered was questionable at best.

Usually when stepping into his labs, the lights would sense him and turn on. The lights in this lab didn't.

His best guess was that there was something wrong with the power.

He walked around to each monitor, seeing if they would turn on. Just like the lights, they didn't. He decided on just dismantling them and remove the motherboard so he could extract any useful information from them when he gets back to his main lab.

Something moving caught his optic and he looked over at one of the slanted berths that he used to hold prisoners in and interrogate them. He walked over and looked on the other side of it.

Nothing.

He was just thinking that it was probably just one of Cybertron's rodents when he heard something behind him and turned to the table that was beside the berth.

He was momentarily surprised to see Starscream sitting there with his back against the table, knees tucked close to his chest with his arms wrapped around them. Even the amount of damage done to his frame surprised him. The gashes looked terrible and he didn't know if the Seeker had gone through worse than that.

Shockwave knelt down on one knee beside him, watching out for the lowered wing on the side he was on, seeing how dull the ex-Commander's optics looked.

He rested his servo on his shoulder to try and get his attention, "Starscream?"

Starscream's helm tilted towards him for a second before his optics went dark, his frame falling over on its side.

Stasis lock.

Shockwave put a digit to his comm. link, "I'll be needing a groundbridge. Let the doctors know to have their emergency room ready."

* * *

It wasn't like Starscream couldn't stop the stasis lock from activating but he had tried anyway. By the time he found one of Shockwave's labs, whatever energon he had earlier was already reduced to fumes.

Just to increase his current luck, there was no energon whatsoever in the one-eyed mech's lab. Typical.

He had grown weak and tired again from the trek there so he found a spot to sit so he could lean and rest.

The thing he didn't expect was the zoning in and out of consciousness that he was doing after awhile. He tried to fight off the stasis lock but it proved to be quite a fight.

He soon heard some pedesteps after though and he swore that he heard Shockwave's voice before the stasis lock claimed him.

He couldn't tell how long he was out for but judging from his sore and stiff frame, it was a long while.

Starscream's systems booted up out of his stasis lock and he soon regretted waking up in the first place. His tanks ached terribly and he rolled onto his side, curling in on himself a bit before purging on the surface he lay. He shook after, feeling that his tanks still ached and desperately wanted to be emptied with whatever was in them.

Just before he purged again, someone ended up lifting him enough to put a bucket in front of him so he could empty the contents of his tanks in it instead on what he was laying on.

After two more purging sessions and a moment of dry heaving, his tanks had settled down. He rested his helm on the edge of the bucket, giving him a moment of much needed rest.

That someone from before ended up laying him back down, removing the bucket from his side. Starscream guessed that it was a berth that he was laying on. He would like to know where he was but he was just too tired and weak to open his optics.

Something was then placed over his optics. Whatever it was, it was damp and cool, most likely a cloth. Starscream let out a deep sigh, his frame relaxing. The cloth felt nice against his faceplate. He felt rather overheated after all from his purging.

He sensed someone standing beside him but he ignored them, just wanting to rest his sore frame. He felt them wiping up the mess on the berth he lay though. Good, he didn't want to end up rolling over into it.

He heard their pedesteps as they walked away from him, most likely to throw out whatever they used to clean up the mess.

Starscream felt like he was being respected for once, being treated like this. He felt rather grateful for not being treated as a burden to whoever this bot was.

Speaking of this bot, he heard their pedesteps come back over and he heard the sounds of a datapad, or scanner, being used. The pedesteps stopped and he felt that he was being scanned. Most likely checking over his readings.

He heard faint beeping as things were being pressed on the scanner, probably scrolling through each reading that was being displayed. Now that he thought about it, he might actually be in the med. bay of a hospital right now.

He heard the bot take a step to walk away and Starscream found himself reaching over and grabbing their wrist with the scanner. He felt their frame tense under his servo. He didn't know if it was because they were scared or just anticipating what he was going to do.

"D-don't go," he managed out, the way his vocalizer hurt was a clear indication that he was in stasis lock for awhile.

He felt their other servo rest over his, patting it lightly, letting him know that they weren't going anywhere as they sat down on the edge of the berth. His grip loosened on their wrist as he wondered why they wouldn't talk to him.

Starscream clenched his jaw, "Th-thank-you," he said, thinking that that would get them to talk.

Again, they were quiet.

He heard a door open and not only did he jump but the bot that was with him jumped at the loud voice that followed.

"KNOCK OUT! WHAT DID I TELL YOU!?"


	3. Chapter 3

Knock Out!? That narcissistic medic was the bot that was here with him!? Before he went to pull his servo away from him, the red medic had let go first and stood to his pedes.

"Knock Out," the stern voice said from the door. It was obvious that it belonged to the old medic Ratchet.

"Yes, I know, I'm going," Knock Out spat, practically stomping out of the room. Once he came up to the old medic, he shoved the scanner at his chest, "Here, I did the scan for you."

Ratchet took the scanner and glanced down at it as the red medic walked to the door.

Knock Out stopped right in the threshold, "Oh, by the way," he turned his helm to the old medic. He gestured to the bucket that he had set over on the floor, "He purged the energon you had given him earlier. Told you it wouldn't sit well with him. Seeker tanks are way more sensitive than other flyers."

With that said, the red medic left.

Ratchet hmphed, going over to the end of the med. berth that Starscream was still laying in, looking over the scanner that Knock Out handed him.

"I take it that you're awake now?" Ratchet said without looking up from the scanner.

Starscream grit his denta, reaching up carefully to remove the cloth from his faceplate. Once it was off, he onlined his optics and stared up at the ceiling, not bothering to answer.

Ratchet walked over to his side, "What did you two talk about?"

Starscream closed his optics, "N-nothing."

Ratchet frowned, "What did he say?" he said with more force.

Starscream growled and went to sit up to get into his faceplate, "Nothing!" he spat. He then winced, curling in on himself from a sudden wave of pain.

Ratchet took a hold of his shoulders and eased him back down on the med. berth, "You can't move around so much, you're still recovering."

"Re-recovering from what?" Starscream wheezed, feeling the pain slowly fade away now that he was laying back down.

Ratchet was quiet for a second as he scanned the Seeker, "Surgery," he said as he scrolled through his readings. "You had extensive damage done to your exterior and interior that we had to repair almost everything. It's a wonder that you're even still functioning with how old the wounds were."

The ex-Commander growled, "Please tell me, good doctor, did that poor excuse for a medic operate on me?"

Ratchet frowned, "For your information, that medic is one of my best students," he paused. "And no, he did not. I did. I didn't trust him enough to work on your frame because of your... past history. Nor was he permitted to be in the same room with you alone."

Starscream was quiet again, letting his frame cool down and relax after the pain he had went through. He lifted a servo, inspecting it, "Aren't I supposed to be cuffed if you don't trust me?"

"That's what everyone keeps mentioning but I keep telling them that there was no way that you would be able to get away far enough before your frame gives out on you."

The Seeker snorted, "You got that right," he looked over at the glass med. bay doors, seeing the silhouettes of other bots going by every once in awhile. He sighed, "He's right you know."

Ratchet frowned, "Who?"

Starscream didn't look at him, he just kept watching the bots go by, "Knock Out. He's right about Seeker's having very sensitive tanks, I'm no exception."

"I found traces of there being energon crystals in your tanks," Ratchet mentioned. "Care to explain what happened out there and where you've been all these years? Everyone has been looking for you and not in a welcoming manner."

Starscream looked up at the ceiling, "I've been hiding in the lower levels of Cybertron, the only areas where I can venture freely without being shot at. Before that, I had been laying in agony in alleyways from my wounds."

"What caused your injuries?"

The ex-Decepticon hissed, "The Predacons. They attacked me just before the Well was rejuvenated by the All Spark. If I hadn't escaped in time, I would have been deactivated."

Ratchet looked at him surprised, "But that was years ago, back when Cybertron was just in the beginning stages of being repaired."

Starscream sneered, "Don't tell the Predacons that I'm still alive and that I'm here. They most likely think that I've already deactivated from my wounds and I want to keep it that way."

Ratchet nodded his helm, "I had no plans in telling them anyway."

Starscream closed his optics, trying to see if he could move his wings but all they did was twitch. They were really stiff and sore. He opened his optics to look back up at the ceiling, "What's going to happen to me after I'm healed enough to leave?"

Ratchet just shook his helm, "I really don't know myself, the higher ups haven't given me a straight answer yet. All I can say is that the highest penalty that they can do is arrest you. You won't be deactivated because Optimus wouldn't want that."

"No... he wouldn't," Starscream said to himself, for once being truly grateful for the Prime.

Ratchet checked the datapad over again before sighing, "Well, I think its best that you get some recharge..."

"I don't recharge anymore," Starscream interrupted. "Or should I say I can't recharge. Haven't been able to properly for over a year now."

"Why's that?"

Starscream didn't answer right away but let his optics close, "Afraid."

Ratchet frowned, "Of what?"

The Seeker opened his optics, "... death."

The medic was surprised about that. Everyone knew that the Seeker was a coward but being genuinely scared, afraid of deactivation was new to him for the ex-Commander. Usually being a Decepticon meant that you can't be afraid of anything, especially death.

Ratchet tapped his digits against the datapad, filing his findings away for when he needs to bring them up. Both medical and new Intel.

Someone pinged for him over his , requesting his help in another section of the hospital, "Rest then if you can't recharge, I'll come by a little later with a cube of energon for you. I advise you to drink it but not too fast, it seems that your tanks had gotten used to the frequent consumption of the raw energon crystals."

Starscream just nodded his helm.

Ratchet left then with the scanner, leaving the ex-Second in Command of the Decepticons to wander through his thoughts as he laid there to rest.

Because that's all he can do these days. He'll try to get at least an hour of recharge in but he doubt that that would happen.


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's a longer chapter.**

* * *

A couple days went by and the pain in Starscream's frame had died down, almost to a numbing pain but the pain in his wings was still there. Didn't help that they were more sensitive than anything else.

According to Ratchet, he'll still have trouble standing as well but sitting up was fine now.

That's what he was doing now, sitting up in his now reclined med. berth in a much more comfortable position. There was an energon cube on the table beside him, barely touched since it makes his tanks ache every time he drinks it. He so far only had taken a few sips from it.

He has been quite bored lately, especially the fact that his only company is the old medic, that he requested some datapads to read to pass the time. Doesn't matter what kind, just have something to read.

So he ended up getting quite a number of random datapads that he has a feeling that Ratchet has no idea what he grabbed for the Seeker. There was informative datapads on everything Cybertronian, biographies, "how to"s and "what to do"s, stories that Cybertronians wrote even before the war, datapads on... wait.

He looked up from his datapad on different Cybertronian birds to look at the stack of datapads of "how to"s and "what to do"s. He set his datapad down in thought.

He bit his bottom lip, feeling a little awkward about the thought. He scanned the titles on the sides, coming across what he was looking for: What to do in a relationship. Why that was among the datapads, he did not know.

He reached for it, careful on removing the ones on top. Once it was out of the stack, he just continued to hold it in his servos as he looked down at it. He tapped his digits against it, unsure if he should read it or not.

But since it has something to do with his thoughts lately, it seems appropriate.

Then again, its unlikely that he'll find his significant other with the way things are now. He let out a heavy sigh, turning on the datapad. Doesn't hurt to at least read on the subject.

Just before he even got a chance to read the first sentence, he heard the med. bay doors open. He looked up and set the datapad in his lap when he saw the back of a familiar red mech trying to close the door behind him quietly.

Starscream furrowed his brows, "Knock Out, what are you doing here?"

Said mech turned around, a complete guilty look on his faceplate, "Oh, I didn't realize you were awake already."

Starscream looked back down at his datapad, trying to read it but the distraction of the other mech was making it hard to concentrate, "I've been awake for awhile now," he said, not going into much detail because the red mech didn't need to know.

Knock Out sauntered over, having his servos behind his back, "So, what have you been up to?"

Starscream didn't lift his helm but his gaze moved to look up at him, "Reading and I thought you weren't allowed to be in the same room as me, especially when its just us two?"

The medic snorted, waving his servo, "That rule is just a load of scrap. There isn't even anything for us to talk about that would be considered as plotting," he said, practically making himself comfortable on the end of the Seeker's med. berth.

It hasn't even been five minutes and Starscream is already annoyed by the red medic. He looked down at his datapad, trying to focus his attention on it... _Chapter One: First, its best to start at the basics on how to start a relationship before knowing what to do in one. It's simpler than it looks..._

"So, what are you reading?"

Starscream closed his optics, gritting his denta to prevent himself from snapping the datapad and the red mech's neck. He opened his optics and glared at him, "Do you have anything else better to do than bother me? Like checking other patients?"

"No, that's why I'm on break right now," Knock Out said with a rather cheeky grin as he kicked his legs in an innocent way.

Starscream rolled his optics, "Look, is there something that you want or are you just here to annoy me?"

"Well..."

"Knock Out," the Seeker growled.

"Kidding," he laughed. He patted the ex-Commander's leg, "Am I not allowed to visit one of my friends?"

Starscream's thoughts halted and he frowned, "What?"

"Well, besides Breakdown you were the only other bot on the warship that I considered a friend, even if you were an aft to me. Shockwave used me as his personal servant, Dreadwing was okay but he was busy being Megatron's Second in Command before Big M shot a hole through him, Soundwave wasn't really a conversationalist if you know what I mean and the drones always try to avoid me," he said this as he checked off each digit. Once his index-digit was left, he pointed it at the Seeker, "But you always talked with me. If that doesn't mean that we're friends then I don't know what does."

The Seeker looked down, his optics on his datapad but he wasn't bothering to try and read it this time. He tapped his digits on the side of it, thinking. He didn't like Knock Out but he was the only one on the warship who actually stopped to listen to his rants... well, besides Soundwave but unlike the silent mech, the red medic would talk back. He never did get to know Dreadwing very well when they first met and they never did talk when the Seeker returned to the warship before Megatron deactivated him. He never did like Shockwave, even when he first met him.

Now that he thought about it, Knock Out was the only bot that was remotely close to being a friend. Even though he had been quite an aft to him, like the medic said.

He sighed, giving up, "Fine, we're friends."

Knock Out grinned.

Starscream pointed a digit at him, "But this doesn't mean you need to bother me all the time."

The red medic held up a servo, his digits crossed, "No promises."

The ex-Commander shook his helm, looking back down at his datapad, "No surprise there."

"So, what are you reading?" Knock Out asked once again.

Starscream didn't look up, "A datapad."

"I can see that but what's the topic?"

Starscream frowned, feeling rather uncomfortable if the medic found out what he was reading and practically researching about. He grumbled, slouching in the med. berth a bit as a light blush began to appear on his faceplate, "None of your business."

Knock Out had a thoughtful expression, tapping a digit against his chin. His other servo reached forward and he snatched the datapad out of the Seeker's servos, "Yoink!"

"HEY!" Starscream tried to grab it back but the red medic held it out of his reach, using his other servo to place on the Seeker's chest to keep him back.

"Ah ah ah, I believe it is my business."

"No it's not, give it back!"

Starscream tried to reach more but it was causing his frame to hurt and Knock Out knew this because the Seeker wasn't doing a very good job at hiding his pained expression.

He enjoyed pissing the ex-Commander off.

"I'm serious Knock Out, give it back!"

Knock Out's grin grew, looking at the datapad, "What's so special about this datapad that's gotten you so...?"

Starscream froze when he watched the red medic look at the datapad, turning it to look at the title on the side. He felt completely embarrassed to the point that his already lightly flushed faceplate brightened. When the red mech looked back at him, he turned his helm away to try and hide his embarrassment.

One of Knock Out's brows rose, "What to do in a relationship?"

"I told you that it's none of your business," Starscream hissed.

Knock Out leaned forward a bit, seeing the Seeker's flushed faceplate. He smiled, "Are you seriously embarrassed by this?'

Starscream snorted, "Don't be ridiculous," he then glanced at the datapad and managed to snatch it out of the medic's servo. He looked up at the medic then, seeing the look he was giving him. He looked away again, "... yes," he grumbled.

Knock Out burst out laughing, not caring anymore that Starscream got the datapad back.

"It's not funny!" the ex-Commander yelled.

"Yes it is," the red medic laughed. "What are you trying to accomplish if you read this?"

"Well, you could say that I'm preparing myself when I find someone that I can be with for the rest of my life but that's not going to happen now so I was going to just read it anyway," the Seeker explained.

Knock Out managed to calm down enough but he was still smiling, "What do you mean by that?"

Starscream grit his denta, "Isn't it obvious?"

Knock Out frowned, totally confused.

"Once I'm healed enough to leave, I'm most likely going to be arrested for what I have done in the past," he snapped. He paused, looking down at the datapad, "If it wasn't for what the Prime had done and fought for, my sentence would have been a lot worse. I'm greatly relieved that being arrested will be my highest sentence, that I won't be deactivated but I was really hoping that I would be able to have a second chance."

"You never know, it might be a low sentence and you'll then be able to find that significant other," Knock Out said, trying to make the Seeker feel better.

Starscream shook his helm, tossing the datapad onto his med. berth beside him, "It wouldn't matter anyway, no one would want to be with someone like me. Especially the fact that I not only was once a Decepticon but also the Second in Command of the Decepticons."

Knock Out patted his leg, "Don't worry Starscream, there's bound to be the right bot out there for you."

"You think so?"

Knock Out smiled, "Of course," he then frowned. "But you won't know until you know your sentence."

Starscream frowned, "Yea."

Knock Out tapped his digits against his legs, "How would you feel if I did a favor for you?"

Starscream's optics narrowed, "Depends on the favor."

"What if I was to try and convince the higher ups to lesson your sentence so you wouldn't be arrested?"

Starscream blinked a couple times, "Well, if you can do that then by all means, do it."

"I'll do what I can, I can't guarantee that it would work though," Knock Out then pointed a digit at him. "But if it does work, you'll have to do a favor for me at some point."

Starscream rolled his optics, "Fine."

Knock Out grinned then checked his internal HUD. He frowned, "Oh, uh, I'll need to get going now or I'm going to miss the rest of my shift and the fact that Ratchet will be here soon to check up on you. I don't want him finding me in here."

Starscream waved his servo in a shooing motion, "Go then. I'll be here, as usual."

Knock Out stood and was about to walk to the door but then stopped, turning back around. He pointed at the energon cube, "Is that a new cube or is it the same first one?"

"It's a new cube and only because the previous one went bad. Even the first one I barely touched," the Seeker explained.

"You need to drink it more often to get your tanks used to the processed energon."

Starscream rolled his optics, "I know, Ratchet keeps telling me but if I drink too much of it at once I feel like I want to purge it back out."

Knock Out nodded his helm, "It'll take time but your tanks will adjust, most likely sometime after you're healed enough to leave. Maybe longer."

"Yea, I kind of guessed that it would take that long."

"Have you been recharging well?" Knock Out then asked.

Starscream frowned, "Honestly, I haven't been able to recharge for over a year now. It has gotten to the point that I can't even tell if I'm tired or not."

Knock Out frowned, "You need to recharge. If you haven't been recharging for over a year, you're at a great risk in frying your neural net."

"I know but I just can't."

"Why not?"

Starscream clenched his jaw, "I... I'll tell you next time. You have work to do."

Knock Out nodded his helm, checking his HUD again, "Yea, I do. I'll see if I can try to sneak in again. Don't know if it'll be tomorrow or the day after or even the day after that."

"I understand," Starscream said. "Now go, before you're missed."

Knock Out grinned and went to the door. He checked if anyone was coming before leaving.

Starscream let out a sigh after, closing his optics to see if he can rest a bit. He guessed that Knock Out wasn't that annoying.


	5. Chapter 5

Awhile after Knock Out left, Ratchet walked in looking at a datapad in his servo. He tapped the screen a few times before lifting his helm to look at Starscream. He frowned then, seeing the Seeker with his optics closed. He walked over to stand beside him, "Starscream?"

"I'm not in recharge if that's what you're going to ask," the Seeker said, keeping his optics closed. "I told you already that I can't."

"I know you did, I was just making sure that you didn't offline on me," Ratchet said, setting down the datapad he had to take a scanner out of his subspace and began scanning the Seeker's frame.

Starscream snorted, "I'm too stubborn to offline that easily," he opened his optics then. He watched as the old medic finished the scan and checked the readings. The Seeker looked down at his servos, twiddling his thumb-digits, "Have you found out anything about my sentence?"

The medic stopped to look at him. He sighed, shaking his helm, "They haven't finished deciding on what to do with you but I have a feeling that you'll find out soon enough. Maybe in the next couple days but the one thing I know is that you won't have to worry about being deactivated."

Starscream nodded his helm, keeping his helm lowered.

Ratchet looked over the readings again but then glanced up at the Seeker, "If I didn't know any better, I would say that you've changed since the war ended."

Starscream shrugged his shoulders, "Probably, a lot of things did happen to me. Predacons attacked me and mauled me to near death. I had suffered through pain from my injuries. I lived in solitude with a constant fear of being deactivated by not only the Predacons but also in my recharge from my wounds," he paused then sighed. "Yea, a lot has happened."

"Stuff like that can change a bot but even though they were painful experiences, they happened for a reason," he looked back down at the scanner, scrolling through it. "Maybe Primus has plans for you, that's why things like that happened and will keep happening."

Starscream frowned, "So I'm going to experience more pain?"

Ratchet snorted, "Maybe but it could be a different type of pain. You might even experience stuff that you've never truly experienced before. Happiness, grief, kindness, regret, anger..." he glanced up at the Seeker, grinning. "... even love."

Starscream's optics widened then, looking up at the medic, "Wha-what's that supposed to mean?" he sputtered.

Ratchet's optics moved to the datapad laying on the med. berth beside the Seeker, seeing the title of it on the side, "It means that you've picked an interesting choice of reading material out of all the ones I brought you."

The ex-Commander looked down, optics shifting around to see if he could see anything to distract himself. He couldn't. He became flustered, "I... uh, I've been preparing myself for when I, um, find the right bot. Th-the war is over after all and its an appropriate time to think about, uh, settling down and stuff."

"It's good to know that you're already thinking of future plans but don't get too ahead of yourself, you still have your trial to go through."

Starscream nodded his helm slowly, "Yea, I know, its just... now that the war is over and the Decepticons are no more, its been on my mind a lot lately."

The medic smiled lightly, looking down at the scanner again. He tapped a few things, "Your readings are looking really good but you may still feel some minor pain in the next couple days," he looked up. "How are your wings?"

Starscream turned his helm to his lowered wings, he shrugged his shoulders, "They still hurt."

"How much?"

"Not that much."

Ratchet stepped closer to the Seeker, setting the scanner on the med. berth beside Starscream before inspecting the wing closest to him, "It looks like they healed well on the exterior. How about you try moving them?"

The Seeker nodded his helm and went to move his wings. He frowned, trying to move them again but they only twitched. His optics widened and he tried harder but once again they only twitched. A look of fear went across his faceplate, "Th-they won't move!" he panicked.

Ratchet had a thoughtful expression, "May I try something?"

Starscream nodded his helm rapidly, wanting to know what the problem was.

The old medic put a servo on the Seeker's shoulder and made him lean forward, he then gently grabbed the wing closer to him and began to move it up slowly.

Starscream grit his denta, feeling a throbbing pain come from his wing. Once it only went up half way, he closed his optics tightly when an intense pain engulfed him, "Stop!" he choked.

Ratchet eased the wing back down gently. Once it was back at its previous position, he rested a servo on the Seeker's shoulder, "Are you okay?"

"That fragging hurt!" Starscream growled, holding himself back from attacking the medic. Didn't help that his HUD was flashing warnings in his helm.

Ratchet took the scanner and went around the Seeker's wing, taking a look at where the wings connected in his back. He scanned the base of each wing, getting the same readings. He subspaced the scanner then reached out with his servos and took a hold of the same wing again and began to move it in a slow circular motion, not moving the wing anywhere passed half way up the Seeker's back.

Starscream hissed, tensing his frame as he felt a light pain come from the base of his wing as the medic rotated his wing. It was bearable but still hurt. After a minute, the pain began to numb and he relaxed his frame a bit.

"How does that feel?" the medic asked.

The ex-Commander let out a sigh, "Better."

"Good. It would seem that your wings have ceased up, being stuck in this lowered position," Ratchet explained.

Starscream raised his helm to look over his shoulder at the medic, "And?"

Ratchet set the wing back in its lowered position before doing the same rotating motion to the other. He glanced at him, "If they aren't properly eased out of this position, they'll stay locked like this and you won't be able to transform into your alt-mode."

The Seeker groaned, looking back forward, "Great, it's not like I haven't been able to transform in the first place ever since I was attacked by the Predacons."

The medic shook his helm, "Don't worry Starscream, as long as your wings are moved like this a good few minutes every day, they should ease back into their upward position. You'll be able to transform in no time."

"Unless I am arrested. I don't think they would aloud flyers any flight time."

"You never know," the old medic said then stopped, lowering it back into its previous position. He went back around to the side of the med. berth, "I think its about time that you start getting on your pedes."

Starscream sighed, "Finally," he said then turned so his legs hanged over the edge of the med. berth. He was about to slide off but Ratchet stopped him.

"Take it slow, you're legs will be weak," the medic explained.

Starscream nodded his helm, bracing himself as he carefully slid off the med. berth and onto the floor. He felt his legs wobble but he stood strong, using the edge of the med. berth to help him stand.

"Good. Now, try to take a step or two."

The ex-Commander shuffled a pede forward, using the med. berth to help him along as he brought his other pede forward. He felt his knee begin to give but quickly caught himself when he brought his pede down. He let out a puff of air once both pedes were on the floor and he was now a foot away from where he started. He tried again, finding it a little easier now that he had already did it.

"Good," Ratchet said somewhere behind him. "Now I would like you to try and take a step away from the med. berth."

Starscream turned to face the medic. He gripped the med. berth tightly before letting go, taking a careful step away from it. His legs were buckling slightly but he took another step. Once he went to take a third step, feeling a little more confident, his legs gave. He practically squawked when he fell to his knees.

Ratchet came up beside him, kneeling down on one knee, "I believe that's enough for today. What do you think?"

Starscream nodded his helm, taking a second to catch his breath. He took Ratchet's offered servo and let the medic help him back onto his pedes, guiding him back to the med. berth after.

Once the Seeker was sitting back on the med. berth, Ratchet picked up his datapad that he sat down earlier, "That was good, you did really well," he said, jotting notes down on the datapad.

"How long do you think it'll take for me to be fully healed and functional?" Starscream asked as he rested back against his reclined med. berth.

Ratchet rubbed his chin in thought, "I would say, at the most, a week."

"That's not so bad."

Ratchet lifted a digit, "But..."

Starscream frowned then.

"... that's not including your wings. That, I would estimate, will depend on if you take the time to rotate your wings like I did for a few minutes every day. Gradually raising them upward to get them back into their original position," the medic explained.

"I can't do it myself."

"That's why I'll be doing it."

"But if my sentence includes me being arrested, then who would do it for me?" the Seeker asked.

Ratchet paused at that thought. He crossed his arms, "I may be able to send someone in each day to help you but you don't need to worry about that now. Not until..." he paused and raised his helm suddenly.

Starscream had watched him and recognized the sign easily. Something must have appeared on the medic's HUD. Either it was about his own systems or he received a message from someone.

Ratchet looked at the Seeker, a sad expression on his faceplate.

"What? What is it?" the ex-Commander asked.

Ratchet sighed, "I just received a message."

"On what?"

"The higher-ups have decided on your sentence," Ratchet said.

Starscream's optics widened.

"Your trial is scheduled for the morning of the day after tomorrow."


	6. Chapter 6

**This one is a little shorter.**

* * *

"Starscream, once Second in Command of the Decepticon faction. We hereby declare you guilty on all charges."

Starscream lowered his helm, looking at not only his pedes but his cuffed servos.

Ever since Ratchet had received the message, the Seeker had been preparing himself for his trial. Physically and mentally.

His frame was left with just a numbing pain but his legs were still quite sore as he stood before the high council. He glanced up at them. Well, they weren't really the high council since they consisted of the five highest ranking Autobot officers. Ultra Magnus was one of them and of course the head of the five. The other four were slightly recognizable. One he believes is named Ironhide. The names for the other three Autobots had slipped his mind.

He looked back down, gritting his denta, shifting his weight from one pede to the other. His legs were really hurting him but he had to keep standing there until the trial was over.

"After much discussion," Ultra Magnus continued. "We have decided on your sentence. Do you have anything to say before we continue?"

Starscream shook his helm, "No," he said, keeping his helm down.

Ultra Magnus nodded his helm, accepting the Seeker's answer, "On normal terms, you would be deactivated but that was during the war. Since the war is over, we won't have that as your sentence. Optimus Prime wouldn't want that for anyone. So, after much consideration, we have decided on having you arrested for your crimes."

Starscream closed his optics, servos clenching into fists.

"But."

Starscream looked up then at the blue mech.

Ultra Magnus rested his servos on the table in front of him, his digits interlacing, "Because of a certain mech's rather persuasive argument, showing a great deal of dedication and loyalty to you to not have you arrested, we decided to drop that sentence and give you a different one."

Starscream frowned, looking totally confused. Who would show that much dedication and loyalty? No one ever did.

Ultra Magnus put a digit to the side of his helm, to his comm. link, "Let him in Ratchet."

The sound of the doors opening somewhere behind him was heard but Starscream didn't turn around to see who it was that came in. He just continued to stand there as he heard two sets of steps come up beside him. One was pretty moderate, the other strangely... aloof?

"Nice to see you again Screamer."

The all too familiar voice made Starscream turn his helm quickly to the red mech that now stood beside him. It was Knock Out and the Seeker was too speechless to respond to his sudden appearance.

Ratchet stood behind the red mech, arms crossed and looking rather unimpressed with the younger medic.

"Knock Out."

Said mech turned to look at Ultra Magnus. Starscream did as well.

"Are you still willing to go along with the choice that you have made?" Ultra Magnus asked. "There is no backing down from this."

Knock Out nodded his helm, "Yes... sir."

The blue mech turned to face the Seeker,"Then I sentence you, Starscream, to live out the rest of your life integrating yourself back into society as a Cybertronian, not a Decepticon. Since it is unlikely that anyone else would take you, Knock Out has agreed in letting you stay with him. But because of both of your Decepticon pasts, someone, most likely an Autobot, would check up on you both frequently."

Starscream's optics widened. After hearing all that, he had no idea what to say or how to react.

"I know that none of the Autobots, that fought on Earth, will like the choice of sentence for you but I know that they would agree that Optimus would," Ultra Magnus picked up a mallet, hitting it against the table. "This trial is adjourn, you are free to go."

Once the five high ranking officers stood from their seats and turned to leave out the doors behind them, Starscream could only feel relief flood through his frame and his legs finally gave out under him.

Knock Out was the closest and he reacted fast enough to catch him before he hit the floor. With the help of Ratchet on the other side, they helped Starscream out of the trial room, having an arm over each of their shoulders after the old medic had removed the cuffs from the Seeker's servos.

Starscream couldn't help feeling that he should thank the red medic, "Uh, Knock Out, I uh..."

Knock Out smiled, keeping his optics forward, "I told you that I was doing it as a favor so you don't need to thank me," he glanced at the Seeker. "I already know that you're grateful anyway, even though you won't actually admit it."

Ratchet frowned on the other side, "What is this about a favor?"

Knock Out chuckled, "Sorry Ratchet, I kind of visited Starscream again after that one time you caught me in his room."

Ratchet didn't look impressed but then his mood softened, nodding his helm after, "It's a good thing you did then. I don't think being in prison would be easy for him since he still hasn't fully recovered from his injuries," he paused, narrowing his optics. "So, what's this about a favor?"

As Knock Out tried to swerve around the question again but ended up failing and told Ratchet anyway, receiving a rather hard hit in the back of the helm from a wrench, the two medics didn't see the rather content smile on the Seeker's faceplate.

Starscream was relieved. That's all that mattered to him. Now he can go ahead and try to find the bot that he would like to spend the rest of his life with. His smile faltered. Hopefully he can find them or actually build up the courage to find that bot.

Now that he thought about it, he was rather nervous in actually going out and looking. It was different and totally new to him that he had no idea on where to start. He guessed that he was going to have to do some more reading.


	7. Chapter 7

Starscream sat in an awkward silence next to Knock Out, who was rather interested in the datapad that he was reading. He glanced over to try and see what the red mech was reading but the angle that he was holding the datapad was making it hard to see what it had on it.

He glanced away, looking down at his servos that were in his lap. He was trying to ignore the constant whispering going on around him but it was really hard when he kept thinking that the whispers were about him.

He closed his optics when he felt his wings twitch, corresponding with his current anxiety. He clenched his servos, his pede tapping against the floor. He was pretty sure that the whispers were growing louder now.

His frame began to shake as his anxiety grew, his breathing coming out fast and erratic. He leaned forward to hold his helm in his servos, trying to calm himself. Once he felt something on his arm, he jumped and quickly looked over at his side.

"Starscream? Are you okay?" Knock Out asks, having a servo on the Seeker's arm.

Starscream glanced around at the bots around them, the whispers were no longer loud but they were still there. He still didn't know if they were whispering about him. He grit his denta, "I told you that taking the subway will be a bad idea," he growled.

"Yea but don't you remember that I told you that this is the only other way to my place. You can't transform, I can't carry you in my vehicle mode and all air-based transport ships are busy. Going by subway is the only other transportation available," Knock Out explained.

Starscream glared at him, "And don't you remember that I'm a SEEKER!?" he spat. "I should be on the surface, not underground like this in a moving confined space for a long period of time." He rubbed his upper arms,"It's causing my claustrophobia to act up," he grumbled.

Knock Out smiled and patted the Seeker's leg just as he was looking back down at his datapad, "Don't worry, we're almost to our stop."

"That's what you think," the ex-Commander grumbled and looked around at the other bots. Every time he would glance at one, they would look away. He frowned. Did they know who he was? No, they wouldn't because these were neutrals. Did he still have his Decepticon symbol? He looked down at his chest. No, it had been removed when he was attacked by the Predacons. Why were they looking at him then?

He leaned closer to the red medic beside him, "Uh, Knock Out?" he said quietly.

"Hmm?" said mech looked up at him. "What is it?"

Starscream looked at him, "Why are they looking at me?"

Knock Out frowned, being confused until he looked around at the bots on the subway. He turned back to Starscream, "It's simple. They either haven't seen a Seeker before or they're just not used to seeing a Seeker taking the subway."

Starscream crossed his arms, "That's because Seekers would rather fly to places, not take the subway," his wings twitched again. "I'm getting stir crazy in here," he grumbled.

The subway suddenly lurched and Starscream panicked, gripping onto whatever he could. His frame became tense, unsure on what to do. He felt the subway lurch again, making him tighten his grip on whatever he had a hold of.

The subway slowed down to a stop but Starscream was still frozen to his spot.

"Starscream, we're here, you can let go now."

Starscream blinked a couple times, shaking his helm to clear it before looking down. One of his servos was gripping the empty seat beside him but his other servo was gripping onto Knock Out's leg.

The Seeker immediately let go of the medic, "Oh, uh... I'm uh..."

Knock Out lifted a digit, stopping Starscream, "No need to say sorry," he then began inspecting his leg. "Unless you left a scratch."

Starscream rolled his optics, getting to his pedes, "You can check for scratches later. I want to get off this death trap," he said, really wanting to get out from underground and get to the surface for some fresh air.

Knock Out got to his pedes, "Hey, wait up," he called after the Seeker as he followed. "You don't know the way."

* * *

"Ahh, home sweet home," Knock Out said after he walked into his flat.

Starscream slowly followed after him and stood just inside to look around. What he could see so far was a rather large apartment-like accommodation, complete with seating, tele-console and... his optics widened. Was that a view?

He walked straight across the flat to the windows on the other side. He stood there for a bit before looking down at a button on the wall near the glass. He reached out and pressed it, one of the glass windows sliding to the side. After it stopped moving, he stepped out onto the balcony that was there.

He looked about the area, seeing the many skyscrapers around but straight ahead was a nice view of the distant horizon. The way the skyscrapers looked, the structural designs made him think of Iacon. After a bit, he realized that they were in Iacon, near the edge of central Iacon to be exact. He didn't realize that he had traveled so far already, considering he was found in one of Shockwave's labs in Kaon.

Oh well, that didn't matter now.

He smiled, closing his optics as he felt a nice crisp breeze. If he couldn't transform and enjoy the exhilaration of flight, this would have to do for now. He could already feel his frame calm down from his recent claustrophobia back at the subway.

"Primus fragging... UUUGH!"

Starscream frowned, opening his optics. Well, it was nice. He turned around to see what was going on. He saw Knock Out with a small stack of... envelopes? He was about to ask him what he was angry about but he only got as far as opening his mouth when the red medic suddenly dropped them in the middle of the floor, took out a blow torch from his subspace and incinerated them.

Well then, that was... unexpected.

He took a step back inside, "Do I want to know?"

Knock Out looked up at him, laughing halfheartedly, "Well, since you're going to be staying here now, you might as well know what happens sometimes."

Starscream raised a brow, "You destroying important documents?"

The red medic snorted, "No," he walked over to press a button on a wall, a panel opening to let a cleaning-bot out and roll across the floor to the burnt papers. They watched it as it began sucking up the ashes.

"Uhh... junk mail?"

"Close, but not quite there."

Once the mess was cleaned up, the small cleaning-bot turned around and went back to where it came out of, the panel closing behind it.

"What were they then?" Starscream asked.

Knock Out grit his denta, "Love letters from my admirers."

Starscream frowned, "What? Really?"

Knock Out nodded his helm, "Yep."

"You're the last bot that I know who would burn letters from their admirers. I can see you actually bathing in all the attention."

Knock Out grinned, "Glad that you're one to think like that about me but its been getting way too crazy for me. Practically every day I get at least four letters. Max being ten, sometimes twelve. I'm getting kind of fed up by it all."

Starscream walked farther into the medic's apartment, "Then why don't you tell them to just frag off?"

"Believe me, I tried but they're all so convinced that they can win my spark in any shape or form. It doesn't help either that I've dated a great deal of them at least once, some were one-night stands, and the rest used to be patients that I repaired," Knock Out gripped his helm. "It's driving me crazy," he paused for a second, groaning tiredly as he closed his optics. "I need to recharge."

"Long day?"

Knock Out nodded his helm, "What about you? Need to recharge?"

Starscream grit his denta, looking away, "I can't recharge, remember."

"That's right, I forgot. So, why can't you? You never did give me an answer when I asked you the same question last time."

Starscream frowned, "I-I'll tell you in the morning, after you have your needed recharge."

Knock Out's optics narrowed, "Alright then. Just, watch the tele-console or read or something if you're not going to recharge. If you do feel like recharging, there is a spare room down the hall to the left or you can recharge on the couch. The door on the right is the wash-rack and the one at the end of the hall is my berthroom," he paused, eying the Seeker's frame. His faceplate scrunched up, "On second thought, I think you should wash up before you do anything. Your frame is filthy. Not to mention you need a good buffing."

Starscream's optics narrowed at him, "Fine, I'll do that," he said and walked to the wash-rack. Just before the door closed, he yelled out over his shoulder, "But I'm not buffing!"

"I'll do it for you then!" Knock Out called back.

"FRAG NO!" Starscream practically screeched just beyond the door.

Knock Out chuckled, making his way to his berthroom. He felt really drained from that day's work. Good thing he was scheduled to come into work later in the day tomorrow. He would have been pissed if he had to get up early for work.


	8. Chapter 8

Starscream sighed, walking onto the balcony. The crisp breeze felt good against his frame after being cooped up in the rather stuffy apartment all night. All he did, ever since he got out of the wash rack, was watch some random channels on the tele-console and read quite a few datapads that he found on one of Knock Out's many shelves.

He had been unable to recharge for over a year and he had to admit that this night, his first night in an actual accommodation, was the longest night that he had ever had. Being on the balcony, looking out at the horizon, he didn't realize that he could feel so relieved seeing the sky changing colour as Cybertron's sun was getting closer to the horizon.

He felt his legs getting sore and decided to sit down as he watched the sky, resting his helm back against the large window behind him. His frame had recovered enough from the surgery that he didn't feel any pain but once in awhile he'll feel sore a bit and if he stood long enough then he'll feel the strain in his legs.

Starscream soon heard the sound of a door sliding open, followed by another door sliding open then sliding close. Not long after that, he heard the wash rack being turned on. His only guess was that Knock Out was up and he was now going to take his sweet time washing and then buffing himself.

The Seeker knew it was going to be awhile before the red medic comes out so he decided to close his optics to try and get a bit of rest, feeling another breeze go by. It felt good being able to feel the wind like this again, when before he couldn't because he was in the lower levels of Cybertron.

He mentally thanked Primus that Knock Out's apartment was on one of the higher floors so he would be able to feel the wind.

He frowned, one of his wings twitching lightly. The wind and height would never be enough though. Seekers need to fly, its in their coding. If they don't fly, well, Starscream didn't want to think about that right now. At the moment, he felt fine but he was surprised that nothing has happened after so long of not being able to fly.

Starscream felt something on his shoulder and he jumped, one of his clawed servos swiping out in reflex.

"Hey now, watch where you're swinging that," Knock Out dodged the Seeker's servo in time so that he wouldn't get scratched.

The ex-Commander blinked a couple times, "That was a rather quick wash you had."

Knock Out frowned, "What are you talking about? I was in there for over an hour."

Starscream looked at the medic with a rather confused look before looking back out at the horizon. Oh, he must have dozed off a bit because the sun was already over the horizon.

He frowned then, his optics widening in realization. He had almost fallen into recharge.

Knock Out saw the sudden panic go over Starscream's faceplate and he had to quickly get out of the way when the Seeker suddenly got to his pedes and rushed passed him to go inside. He watched as the Seeker began pacing, his arms crossed with his servos clutching his upper arms.

"Woah, woah, Starscream. What's the matter?" he asked, stepping into the apartment.

Starscream didn't respond but kept pacing, mumbling to himself.

Knock Out saw how his panic began to grow and he stepped closer, raising his servos, "Starscream, stop."

The Seeker stopped but didn't look at him as he walked to the couch and sat down, clutching his helm as he looked down at his pedes.

The red medic slowly stepped closer, seeing that the Seeker's frame was shaking. He knelt in front of him, "Starscream, what's wrong?"

Starscream just shook his helm, his servos clutching into fists on the side of his helm as his frame continued to shake.

Knock Out reached up to take the Seeker's servos, noticing how he flinched when he touched him. He held the Seeker's servos, "First, I want you to calm down. Can you do that?"

The ex-Commander was silent but then slowly nodded his helm, sighing heavily to try and calm his shaking frame.

Once the red medic saw him looking much calmer, he smiled, "Good. Now, I want you to tell me what's wrong. Take your time if you have to."

Starscream opened and closed his mouth multiple times, trying to find the right words to say. He shook his helm lightly, "D-do you still want to know why I can't recharge?"

"Of course."

The Seeker sighed again to calm himself before he spoke. He finally looked at the red medic, "It's because I'm afraid that if I do, I won't ever wake or I would end up being killed."

Knock Out frowned, "Killed by who?"

"The Predacons," he said. Knock Out's confused look made him explain more, "They are the reason why I was injured so much. I'm surprised that the Autobot Ratchet never told you that."

The red medic snorted, "He had left out a lot of stuff about you when you were found by Shockwave," he explained then looked at the Seeker oddly. "How does it relate to why you panicked just now?"

Starscream looked down, his frame beginning to shake again, "I-I almost fell into recharge o-on the balcony and... and..."

"You got scared by the thought that if you did, you won't wake again or you'll be attacked by the Predacons," Knock Out finished for him before looking at him sadly. "I knew that you've been scared of dieing even before the war ended but it growing to this extent that you can't recharge. I can't even imagine what that is like for you."

"It's not fun. Let's put it at that," Starscream said, removing his servos from the medic's rather harshly.

Knock Out wasn't finished and rested a servo on the Seeker's knee, ignoring the fact that the ex-Commander's frame stiffened, "You do realize that you don't have to be afraid anymore. Especially here in my apartment. This is your safe haven now and nothing can hurt you here. Not to mention that Shockwave has been sending the Predacons on rather long missions lately that are usually on the other side of Cybertron. You don't have to worry now."

Starscream could see the sincerity in the red mech's optics. He looked away from him, "I may be safe but it still won't help with the fact that I can't recharge."

Knock Out smiled, "You never know, you may end up falling into recharge again while you're here."

"I doubt that," the Seeker said, keeping his gaze looking away from the red medic in front of him.

There was a short silence between the two before Knock Out got an idea, "Ratchet told me that since you're going to be staying here for now on, I'm going to need to ease your wings back to their original position. Would you like me to get working on that right now?"

Starscream glanced at him. He nodded his helm slowly and looked away again.

Knock Out got to his pedes, gesturing to the couch, "I think it'll be better if you were to lay down on your front."

The ex-Commander laid down on the couch on his front, shifting a bit to get comfortable.

The red medic leaned over him, resting a servo on the Seeker's back while the other gripped one of his wings gently. He looked down at the Seeker, "Ratchet informed me that this may hurt a bit."

"I'm aware," Starscream said before gritting his denta when Knock Out began rotating his wing slowly. He closed his optics from the pain, burying his face into the couch.

Knock Out stopped when seeing the Seeker's pained expression, "Are you okay?"

Starscream nodded his helm quickly, "Y-yes, just... don't stop. I-I want to be able to t-transform as soon as possible."

The red medic nodded his helm, understanding the Seeker's desperation before continuing.

Starscream clenched his servos into fists, trying to ignore the blaring warnings on his internal HUD. No matter how much pain he was going to have to go through, he wanted to go through it as much as possible until he is able to fly again.

A thought came to mind then. There was one other thing that he wanted to go through. He turned his helm to the side, opening an optic to look up at the medic, "Knock Out, c-can I ask you something?"

"Yes, of course," was the red mech's reply.

Starscream lifted his helm enough so he could cross his arms in front of him and rest his chin on them, looking forward. The pain in the wing that Knock Out was rotating was fading, "D-do you have any advice?"

Knock Out frowned, "What kind of advice?"

The Seeker felt his faceplate become warm, "Dating advice."

Knock Out grinned, "Ahhh, you want some pointers do yeah?"

Starscream didn't answer which Knock Out couldn't help but laugh about.

"I told you before, there's nothing to be ashamed about. In my opinion, getting advice from someone who has experience in something is way better then learning from some datapad," the medic said, resting the Seeker's wing down then changing to the next.

Starscream winced, feeling the new wave of pain as his other wing was getting rotated, "Th-that's why I'm as-asking."

There was a knock at the door and Knock Out looked up, "Hmm, I'll give you advice later. It seems that we have a visitor."

Starscream sighed in relief when the red medic rested his wing down. He didn't move as the red mech walked around the couch towards the door.

Knock Out pushed a button on the wall, the door sliding open to reveal a mech that he really didn't expect to show up.

"Oh, Bumblebee, what brings you here?"


	9. Chapter 9

Bumblebee stood there at Knock Out's door, smiling, "Hey Knock Out, I haven't seen you in awhile."

Knock Out looked at the yellow mech oddly, "Yeah, I've been rather busy at the hospital lately," he then crossed his arms over his chest, shifting his weight to one leg. "What are you doing here? The Autobots almost never visit me."

Bumblebee frowned, "Didn't anyone tell you?" when the red mech shook his helm, the yellow mech smiled. "I'm the one who was picked to check up on you and your new guest," he shifted uneasily then. "Who is the Decepticon anyway? Anyone I would know?"

"Nice to see you too bug," Starscream said from the couch loud enough that the two at the door heard him.

Knock Out wasn't surprised by the shocked expression on the yellow mech's face. He stepped to the side, gesturing to the inside of his apartment. He laughed, "Would you like to come in?"

The yellow mech looked rather uneasy but he nodded his helm either way, walking in. He walked around the couch and stopped when he saw Starscream laying on his front there, his chin resting in the palm of his servo.

"So you're the one who would be keeping an optic on us," the Seeker said, about to sit up.

"Oh no you don't," Knock Out said as he placed a servo on the Seeker's shoulder when he came around the couch, pushing him back down. "I'm not finished with you yet."

Starscream growled but didn't snap at the medic as he held the Seeker down with a servo on his back, the other going back to rotating his wing. He winced from the pain, glancing over at the yellow bot, "I was a-actually expecting someone e-else to show up. Like Arcee."

Bumblebee shifted on his pedes, watching Knock Out work, "I was the only one available and qualified for the job. Arcee wasn't qualified because she would no doubt try to kill you the moment she saw you."

Knock Out snorted, "You got that right," he paused then looked over at the yellow mech. "Wait, wouldn't she and everyone else be informed anyway that he's here?"

Bumblebee shook his helm, "I was the only one informed about a Decepticon being here. Unless he runs into the others, that would be the only way that they would know that he's, well..."

"Still alive," the red medic finished for him as he went back to rotating the Seeker's wing.

Starscream could feel the pain in his wing fading so he shifted on the couch a bit to get more comfortable, "I guess if I want to stay alive I need to stay away from them."

Knock Out rested the Seeker's wing down and stood up straight, "There, you should be good for today."

"Finally," Starscream said as he sat up, getting to his pedes so he could stretch while he walked away from the couch.

Knock Out looked at the yellow mech, "Would you like a cube of energon?"

Bumblebee smiled, "Sure," he said then took a seat on the couch when the red mech gestured for him to sit.

Knock Out glared at the Seeker, pointing two of his digits at his optics then at the Seeker to tell him that he was watching him before going over to where he had his energon set up.

Starscream snorted before sitting on the chair that was facing the couch, crossing a leg over the other as he crossed his arms. He watched Bumblebee, seeing how nervous the yellow bot looked as he twiddled his thumb-digits in his lap.

During the current silence between the two, while Knock Out prepared some energon for them, Bumblebee looked up at the Seeker. His brows furrowed at the sight of the ex-Commander's lowered wings. He opened and closed his mouth, unsure if he should ask about them or not.

Starscream saw that the yellow mech wanted to say something and he rolled his optics, "Spit it out bug, I won't bite," he said. He ignored the glare directed at him from the red medic across the room.

Bumblebee cleared his vocals slightly, "I, uh... um, I mean, wh-what's wrong with your wings? Aren't they usually, you know, up higher than that?"

The Seeker blinked a couple times at the question. He honestly didn't expect that. He took a glance at one of his wings, twitching it slightly before looking back at the shorter mech on the couch, "They froze up in that position," he plainly informed him.

"Doesn't it hurt?" Bumblebee asked.

"No. Not unless they are moved up higher on my back. I have to ease them back up every day for a few minutes until they're back in their original position," the Seeker explained.

"How did it happen?" the yellow bot then asked.

Starscream scratched the side of his helm in thought, "I honestly don't remember how. They just stayed like that long enough to cease up. I didn't realize it until it was too late."

Bumblebee was starting to feel more comfortable with talking with him, finding that the Seeker posed no threat to him. Yet. He looked up when Knock Out came back around with three energon cubes on a tray, taking one that the red medic handed to him. He took a sip from it, "If you don't mind me asking..."

The ex-Commander took the cube of energon that Knock Out handed him next, finding the yellow bot's questions to be rather amusing, "Of course not," he said as he lifted the cube to his lips.

"... would you tell me where you have been all this time? I'm rather curious."

Starscream paused, the cube just barely reaching his lips. He stared into the glowing blue liquid in thought.

Bumblebee frowned, "Oh, you don't have to answer that if you don't want to. It was a silly question anyway," he said as he took a large sip from his energon.

The Seeker shook his helm to clear his thoughts, "All you should know is that I've been hiding," he informed the yellow bot, taking a big sip from his energon. It wouldn't affect him that much since he was getting used to the low-grade now. But he still couldn't handle a lot at once.

He frowned then, feeling his tanks churn slightly. He stared into the cube. Either he was not used to it as much as he thought or this was some different kind of low-grade. He shrugged his shoulders, ignoring it for now as he listened in on the two mechs' conversation.

"So, how long are you going to be with us?" Knock Out asked the yellow bot, sipping his energon.

Bumblebee shrugged his shoulders, "Not sure, I'm guessing until they call to relieve me."

Knock Out tapped his digits on the side of his energon cube, "How long each day though?"

The yellow mech hummed in thought, "I would say, no more than a few hours. Give or take a couple more but only in the morning. I may, though, end up staying the night here and there when it calls for it."

The red medic nodded his helm, "That's good. I don't want to be constantly surveilled. Kind of pointless when there isn't anything to worry ab..."

"Kn-Knock Out," Starscream grumbled irritatedly.

Knock Out looked over at the Seeker, "What is it Scre...?" he stopped when he saw the ex-Commander hunched over the chair he sat in, a servo on his forehelm while the other was resting on his abdomen. The red medic stood quickly and rushed to his side, about to ask what was wrong but the Seeker beat him to it.

"Knock Out," he growled out. "You gave me low-grade didn't you?"

The red mech shifted uneasily, "I-I don't... Bumblebee, find a waste bin or something that he could purge into if he does. Be quick about it," he ordered the yellow mech, who slightly hesitated for a second before going off to find what he was ordered to look for.

Starscream watched as Knock Out rushed over to where his energon was, inspecting the energon that he used. The Seeker didn't watch for very long when his tanks churned and he felt the need to purge.

"Uh, Starscream?" Knock Out's uneasy voice reached the Seeker's audio as the red mech walked over.

Starscream grit his denta, glancing up at him.

"Sorry, I may have given you a high potent medium grade."

The Seeker grimaced, raising his servo to his mouth, "Now I'm really going to end up purging."

Bumblebee came rushing in from the hallway, placing a waste bin on the floor in front of the Seeker, "Sorry it took so long, it was really hard finding one," he looked to the red medic. "I had to go into your berthroom. By the way, why was it beside your berth in the first place?"

Knock Out shrugged his shoulders, "You never know. I might not have enough time to get to my washrack after waking up the next morning. When I have time, I do tend to get rather overcharged on high grade," he then frowned. "Besides, I wash myself in my washrack. I'm not going to start purging in there. Do you realize how hard it is to clean after purging?"

"Please, stop talking," Starscream grumbled. Just hearing the word was making his tanks uneasy.

"What's wrong with him anyway?" Bumblebee asked.

Knock Out rested his servos on his hips, "Since his time in hiding, he had to resort to eating raw energon crystals to stay fueled. After surviving off them for so long, his tanks had gotten used to the crystals to the point that if he was to have processed energon, his tanks will just make him purge it back out," he explained.

As that was said, Starscream felt something rising to the back of his throat and he placed a servo over his mouth, gagging slightly as he tried to hold back what was coming up.

Knock Out placed a servo on the Seeker's shoulder to steady him, "Don't hold it back Starscream."

The Seeker shook his helm, venting heavily after he managed to hold it back, "I've purged too many times already, I'm not letting a little energon make me this ti..."

The red medic sighed as the ex-Commander emptied his tanks into the waste bin. He looked back at Bumblebee, "He's been on low-grade for awhile now to help him ease back into drinking regular energon. He's close to being able to but not close enough," he looked back down at the Seeker, rubbing his back between his wings to help him feel better. "In the beginning, he could barely hold the low-grade down. It was even the least potent low-grade that he had started drinking."

"Shouldn't he still be in the hospital then?" Bumblebee asked, watching as Starscream put his elbows on his knees, his shaky servos going over his optics.

Knock Out grit his denta, "Starscream was mainly there because he was recovering from surgery and trying to get on his pedes again. If his purging is because of a medical problem, then it would be different. Since he is just not used to drinking medium-grade yet, especially high potent medium-grade, there is no reason for him to be there," he paused in thought. "I'm surprised that he was even able to hold that type of medium grade down for that long in the first place."

Starscream snorted, lifting his helm a bit to glance up at the two at the corner of his optic, "Maybe it's getting to that point that I start drinking medium-grade."

The red medic shook a digit at the Seeker, "Oh no you're not. You still can't finish a full cube of low-grade. Not until you do that can you have medium grade."

The ex-Commander frowned, "Not even the least potent medium-grade?"

Knock Out paused then in thought. He snorted, shaking his helm as he lifted his thumb-digit with his index-digit, leaving little space in between the tips, "Maybe just a bit."

Bumblebee chuckled at the look that went across the Seeker's features. It was like he just accomplished a rather difficult mission.


	10. Chapter 10

Starscream stood there near the entrance of the bar that he was in now, arms crossed across his chest as he glared menacingly at Knock Out, who was running around trying to find them seats.

After Knock Out had finished his shift for the day, he sent Bumblebee on his way. The Seeker was glad that the yellow bot was finally gone because any longer and he would have, well, done something that would result in him being arrested. It wasn't his fault that he was getting rather cooped up in the apartment. The young bot wouldn't even allow him to leave.

Shortly after Bumblebee left, Knock Out practically dragged him out of the apartment and to this bar.

He honestly didn't want to be there but the red medic insisted that he do this. It just so happens, much to the Seeker's annoyance, that this bar was rather popular, packed and large with a dance floor in the middle where you can see the second floor above. For being a large place, it was rather cramped.

Starscream's wing twitched. He really didn't want to be there yet he did at the same time. The narcissistic medic said he was going to help him and so he did, by taking him to a bar to give him tips and maybe find someone.

He suddenly felt rather uneasy, about finding someone at this bar. If he sees someone he likes, would they like him back? How would they react if they found out that he used to be a Decepticon?

"Hey Starscream, I found us some seats," Knock Out said as he ran back over.

The Seeker's arms wrapped around himself tighter, "I-I don't think I can do this."

"Nonsense," the medic said with a large smile, grabbing the Seeker's wrist to practically drag him over to one of the seating areas on the ground floor. "You just need good advice and a shove in the right direction."

Starscream frowned, "What if that shove ends up being in the wrong direction?"

Knock Out snorted, rolling his optics, "Come on now. Do you realize who you are talking to?"

The ex-Commander couldn't help himself, "Someone who can't keep a steady relationship himself? Someone who can't get rid of the crazy admirers that he unintentionally, and possibly intentionally, created?"

The red mech glanced at him over his shoulder, fixing the Seeker with a slight glare, "Nooo," he said then stopped in front a vacant table with two seats, letting go of the Seeker's wrist as he turned around to face him. "You're talking to the same bot who helped hundreds of bots get their act together, by pushing them in the right direction. The direction towards future love interests that have the potential to become their sparkmates."

"Yet your advice never helped you to find your own potential sparkmate?"

Knock Out shrugged, taking a seat in one of the chairs, "Not everyone will find the right bot off the bat. Others, like myself, are still waiting," he crossed a leg over the other, gesturing to the seat across the table from him. "Now sit before you hurt yourself."

Starscream glared at the medic, clenching his denta before sitting down.

Knock Out smiled in success, lifting a digit, "First off, stop with the faces."

The Seeker blinked, "What faces?"

"The glaring and the frowning. That is such a turn-off to others when you're trying to win their spark. Smile, show some confidence. Like moi," the red medic boasted, placing a servo to his chest.

Starscream shook his helm, "Not everyone wants to be like you Knock Out and besides, I don't do smiling."

The red mech looked at him in shock, "What do you mean you don't smile!? You've done it before. Sure, they were more evil than anything but they were still smiles."

The Seeker looked rather unsure and glanced over at the dance floor, seeing bots dancing on platforms while lights flashed and music played.

Knock Out patted the table, "Come on, try it. Give me a smile."

Starscream decided to just get this part over with and smiled, not really thinking.

"Eh, I think we may need to work on that."

"Yeah think?" the ex-Commander said as if it was obvious. He looked up when someone came up to their table.

"Hello, what would you like for this fine evening?" the femme asked.

Knock Out gestured to himself, "I would like your moderate-potent high-grade and if you have any low-potent medium-grade, that would be good for my friend here," he said as he gestured to Starscream.

She glanced at the Seeker oddly, "Low-potent medium-grade?"

The ex-Commander nodded his helm, "Uh, medical issue. Can't have higher potent energon for awhile."

She rested a servo against her chest, "Bless your spark. Hope you feel better soon," she said then looked at Knock Out. "I'll be back shortly with your energon."

Knock Out nodded his thanks and watched her for a bit as she walked away before looking back at the Seeker, "Now, let's continue. Like I said, you need to be confident and when you interact with someone for the first time, don't get too close. You want them to feel as comfortable as possible around you, which I believe will be a little difficult for you."

"Oh ha ha," was Starscream's reply to that bit at the end.

The red medic chuckled, "Its the truth though, you're not exactly someone that anyone would want to hang out with all the time."

"Yet you do anyway."

Knock Out pointed a digit at him, "Hey, someone needs to look after you. Besides, didn't I say back at the hospital that you're my friend."

After Starscream went silent then and looked over at the dance floor, the red mech continued, "Anyway, we first need to determine the type of bot that would suit you the best."

Starscream looked back at him, "And how are you going to accomplish that?"

The red medic leaned back in his seat, arm crossing over his chest while a digit from his other servo tapped his chin in thought, "Well, I first got to ask you something. Are you more into mechs or femmes?"

The ex-Commander sputtered, "Wh-what kind of question is that!?"

"You want to find someone don't you?" when the Seeker nodded his helm rather hesitantly, Knock Out smiled. "Now answer the question."

He opened his mouth to answer but stopped when that femme came back with a tray that had two cubes of energon on it.

She took one of the cubes and placed it in front of Knock Out, "Here's the high-grade," she said then placed the other cube in front of Starscream. "And here's your medium-grade. Enjoy yourselves," she said rather cheerfully before walking away again.

Knock Out sipped from his energon, "So?"

Starscream's digits tapped against his cube, "I guess it doesn't really matter."

"Hmm, you're going to want to change your answer after this next bit," Knock Out smirked. "What would you say you are: submissive or dominant?"

The Seeker had taken a sip of his energon then and nearly spat it out, deciding to hide behind his cube as he blushed madly, "Th-the Pit would I know?" he spat.

Knock Out grinned, "In my opinion, you could be either but we've got to look at a few facts to determine this."

Starscream glanced at him from around the cube, "Wh-what do you mean by that?"

The red medic began inspecting his digits as he spoke, "Well, the reason I think that you could be dominant was because of your dedication to the... "cause". You always went about trying to become leader, almost succeeding at times, and your rather traitorous streak and your habit to look down on everyone would put you as someone being dominant.

"But," he continued, glancing up from his digits to look at the nervous Seeker across from the table. "Because of the constant beatings you got from Megatron, you had no choice but to revert to being cowardly to survive. You did it so many times, getting into trouble and trying not to be deactivated. You became uneasy until something or someone tips the scale to your favor. It got to the point that it became second nature. You gotten so used to being on the end where you had to obey constantly so you wouldn't be deactivated, you ended up changing from being dominant to submissive."

Starscream tapped his digits against the side of his cube, "So you're saying I'm submissive because of the beatings I had received from Megatron?"

Knock Out shrugged, "It was either that or because ever since I asked about that datapad, you've been rather skittish, hesitant... oh what's the other word... oh yeah," he grinned. "Timid and rather embarrassed every time I mention anything that deals with relationships."

Starscream looked into his cube, trying to ignore the fact that his faceplate was still warm. He took a sip from it, trying to calm himself.

"Hmm, I don't think a femme would be good for you then. Unless you like it when the femme is dominant in the relationship, being the one on top while you're on the bottom instead."

Starscream's optics widened before he lowered his helm, "Please, stop," he whined, trying to stop the images from flooding his mind while at the same time trying to calm his blushing faceplate. He was really regretting not leaving the instant Knock Out had left to find seats for them.

Knock Out laughed, "I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself but I'm serious. A femme wouldn't suit you but a mech would," he glanced over the Seeker's shoulder. "We just need to find a good enough mech for you who would not only treat you the right way but doesn't look half bad either."

The Seeker snorted, "I thought we were looking for someone for me, not you."

"Or it could be me."

Starscream frowned, "Wha...?" he was silenced when the red medic's servo covered his mouth.

The red mech glanced at him, "Just follow my lead," he whispered.

The Seeker was about to question him once he removed his servo but stopped himself at hearing a femme's voice.

"Hey Knock Out, whose your friend?"

Starscream frowned, the glare that Knock Out was sending the femme was menacing.

"What do you want?" the medic growled at her.

The way she smiled made Starscream instantly dislike her, "Am I not allowed to see my boyfriend?"

Knock Out grit his denta, "I told you we are through. Multiple times. Doesn't the words 'Frag off' mean anything to you?"

She literally waved it off, "Oh, you were just having a bad week."

Starscream rolled his optics. So, she was those kind of femmes, "He told you that he doesn't want to see you anymore glitch."

The femme gasped, placing a servo to her chest, "Rude!" she looked back at Knock Out. "Who is this piece of slag?"

Starscream snarled. He wanted so bad to snap back at her but he didn't get the chance. He froze to the spot when Knock Out reached over and grabbed his servo.

The red medic didn't leave his glaring optics off the femme as he held the Seeker's servo, "He's my date."

Starscream's optics widened then, his mouth moving to protest but he had no idea how to reply to that.

"Date!?" the femme laughed. "Oh that's just rich. I know you enough to know that you've never dated a mech before and a Seeker no less."

Starscream wanted to remove his servo from Knock Out's but the medic had a good hold on him. He could feel the red mech's servos shaking from anger and he was sure that any second he was going to punch that femme in the face.

Knock Out grit his denta, "This Seeker happens to be an old friend. I met him way before I met you and who cares if I date a mech, I believe its about time I date one if all femmes are fragging glitches like you."

Starscream's vents soon hitched when Knock Out's thumb-digit began stroking along his servo, caressing along a few seams. He placed his other servo over his faceplate as he turned his helm away from the other two, trying to hide the heavy blush creeping up along his cheeks.

What the medic said made her growl and just the sight of him stroking the Seeker's servo caused something to snap in her, "If that's how its going to be," she said then looked at the ex-Commander. "Hey, Seeker."

Starscream managed to look at her at the corner of his optic.

She sneered, "Word of advice; the moment he is satisfied, he'll just dump you like every other bot he's dated," she then smiled. "Nice meeting you."

With that said, she turned and left. Not once looking back at them.

Knock Out snorted, "And this is what I practically go through every week. If you're wondering, her name is Reefknot. She is one of the many who are so determined to have me as their boyfriend just because of my looks."

"Kn-Knock Out..."

"Honestly, they really need to give up."

"... please, let go..."

"Many wonder why I haven't dated anyone in the passed few months. This is the reason."

"Knock Out!"

Said medic looked at him, "What?"

Starscream's faceplate was hidden behind his servo but it wasn't doing a very good job at hiding the deep blush, "Let go of my servo," he practically growled out.

Knock Out looked down, "Oh, sorry," he said and as soon as his grip on the Seeker's servo had loosened, Starscream was immediately on his pedes and heading for the exit at a fast pace.

"Woah, Starscream, wait up," Knock Out quickly followed after, leaving a tip on the table. Once the Seeker was just leaving the bar, the medic paid for the energon at the front counter before rushing after the ex-Commander.

He managed to catch up but he had to walk at a much faster pace to keep up with the Seeker's longer strides, "Starscream, what's wrong?"

"Nothing!" the Seeker spat, his servos gripping his upper arms.

Knock Out groaned to himself. He used to be able to understand what the ex-Commander was feeling just by watching his wings but that was impossible now with them being stuck in their lowered position. He caught up enough to reach out and grab his arm, stopping the Seeker from going any farther, "I'm serious. Tell me what's wrong."

Starscream was forced to stop once the medic took his arm. He lowered his helm, "Why did you have to go ahead and tell her that?"

Now Knock Out was really confused, "Tell her what?"

The Seeker turned enough to look at him, an angered expression still present, "Why did you tell her that we were dating? Not only that, you decided that it was such a good idea to hold my servo!"

Knock Out laughed halfheartedly, "Is that what this is about? Just some silly servo holding and a few words? The reason I did that was to get her off my back and to leave me alone. It worked so what's gotten you so riled up about?"

Starscream shook his helm, turning his helm away, "You won't understand."

The red medic stepped a little closer without releasing his grip on the Seeker's arm, "Then tell me what's wrong. It's the only way that will make me understand."

Starsceam was silent for a bit, clenching his denta as he tried to straighten out his thoughts. Should he tell him? Tell him that he has never experienced being in a relationship? Not even before the war started? He bit his bottom lip, shaking his helm. He didn't want to tell him, yet he did. He desperately wanted to get this off his chest but the only closest friend he had to talk to was Knock Out but he honestly didn't know how the red mech would react.

He sighed deeply, shoulders sagging as he calmed down after deciding what to do. He turned his helm to the medic rather hesitantly, "I-I'll tell you back at the apartment."


	11. Chapter 11

**I would like to make this chapter longer but I couldn't think of anything else to put and besides, what is coming up would be best started in a new chapter.**

* * *

Starscream sat there on the couch in silence, looking down at his servos where his digits were intertwined with one another. He twiddled his thumb-digits, waiting for Knock Out's reply to what he just told him.

The red medic was in the chair, sitting forward in it as he studied the Seeker in shock, "So you're telling me that you, Starscream, once great Air Commander and Second in Command of the Decepticon faction, has never ever dated anyone in his entire life?"

The Seeker just nodded his helm.

"What about one-night stands?"

Starscream shook his helm.

"Have you ever interfaced anyone before?"

When that thought came to mind, Starscream lowered his helm a bit to hide a light blush, shaking his helm.

"What about a kiss? Please tell me you have at least kissed someone."

Once again, Starscream shook his helm.

Knock Out leaned back in his chair, letting out a heavy vent as he covered his faceplate with his servos in defeat. He was like that for a minute before setting his servos on the arms of the chair, looking over at the Seeker. He sat up straighter in the chair before resting his chin in one of the palms of his servos, "I guess this explains why you are so hesitant and embarrassed every time we talk about relationships. You literally have never experienced anything. I should have realized it sooner."

Starscream glanced up at him, "But you didn't. Considering what my rank was, everyone would think that I constantly took someone to my berth. Honestly, none of that kind of stuff ever crossed my processor until after the war had officially ended."

The medic's brows furrowed, "Hmm, now that I know of your predicament, this is going to be much harder."

Starscream grit his denta, looking out at the sky beyond the windows, "Yeah, kind of figured that."

Knock Out raised a digit, "But, its not impossible. It may be difficult and it will take awhile, but its not impossible," when Starscream looked back at him, he smiled. "You just got to listen to my advice, take your time and soon enough you'll be with someone that you will cherish with all your spark. That is what you still want, right?"

The ex-Commander nodded his helm, "Yes."

"Good, now before we retire for the day and recharge, but in your case you'll just stay up," the red mech said as he got to his pedes. "I would like to apologize for what I did at the bar. I should have explained what I was going to do first. I just really wanted Reefknot to leave me alone."

Starscream shrugged his shoulders, "It's alright, I have gotten over it already. At least it worked and she didn't stay for much longer. I really didn't like her."

Knock Out suddenly had a thoughtful expression, "Yeah, it did work."

The Seeker frowned, "Uh, Knock Out?"

The medic shook a raised digit, a smile forming across his lips, "I just had an idea that may be able to help both of our problems."

"And that is?"

"This is just a thought but what if we, supposedly, dated each other?"

Starscream's brows furrowed, "Absolutely not," he practically growled out.

"Now, now, Starscream, let me explain. If we dated each other, then I will not only be able to keep all those admirers off of my back but you will also be able to gain the dating experience that you need. It's a win/win situation," Knock Out explained.

With that said, Starscream glanced down at his pedes in thought, "I-I don't know. It's sounds... good and all but, its just, I..." he shook his helm, letting out a tired sigh after. "I-I need time to think about it."

Knock Out nodded his helm, "I understand. Take as long as you need."

"Will you still give me advice in the meantime?"

Knock Out snorted, "Of course I will," he said then turned his back on the Seeker. "Now I better get to recharge, I have an early shift so Bumblebee should be showing up around the time before I leave in the morning." He stopped then turned back to the Seeker, "Do try to get some recharge. Its not good for you to be staying up like this."

Starscream shook his helm, "You know that's still not possible for me right now."

"I know but it wouldn't hurt to try," he paused for a second. "Do think of the idea. It will help both of us, I promise you that."

All Starscream did was nod his helm as Knock Out walked down the hallway to his room.

Once the red medic was gone, the Seeker looked out the window, seeing the sky darkening. It was a little early for the medic to go to recharge but then again, he did say he had an early shift.

Starscream stood to his pedes and walked closer to the window, stepping out onto the balcony. He stood there, his wings twitching when he felt a breeze hit them. He wanted to fly... no, he needed to fly but he couldn't with the way his wings were. He shook his helm lightly, he really hoped that it wouldn't be much longer until he could practically jump off this balcony, transform, and take to the sky.

But right now, he was stuck being grounded. He had to be patient.

In the meantime though, he should think about Knock Out's idea. The thought sent a shiver down his spinal strut.

It wasn't the fact that he was going to gain the dating experience he needed. Helping fend off the red mech's pesky admirers wasn't it either. The fact that bothered him the most was that he would be dating Knock Out.

He could tolerate the medic any other day but having to interact with him as if they were a... a... a couple!?

His talon-like digits gripped his upper arms. He honestly didn't know if he should go with the idea.

He shook his helm and sat down, resting his back against the windows as he looked up at the sky, watching it grow darker every passing minute.

He was pretty sure he needed a couple days to think it through.

* * *

**Hmm, so is Starscream going to go with Knock Out's idea?  
**

**Stay tuned for next chapter.  
**


	12. Chapter 12

**I honestly have no set dates for my chapters so just bare with me.**

* * *

"What's taking Bumblebee so long?" Knock Out asked out loud to no one in particular as he rotated Starscream's wing, having already done the other.

Starscream grit his denta, his digits digging into the couch that he was currently laying on on his front as the medic worked on his wings. He really didn't care where or what happened to the yellow bot, he just wished that he could have one whole day to himself without any pesky Autobot ruining it.

"Hey Starscream?"

"What?" the Seeker practically spat, wanting this to end.

Knock Out was silent for a bit, waiting for the Seeker to calm for a bit before speaking, "I don't know how you would feel about this but what if we took a trip to your home city Vos and..."

"NO!" the ex-Commander got to his pedes quickly, turning on the red mech. "No way are we going there, not while my wings are stuck like this."

Knock Out got to his pedes, "I guess today's session is done," he mumbled to himself as he brushed non-existent dirt from his servos. He rested his servos on his hips after, "I know flying there is a problem for you but we can always take a transport."

Starscream shook his helm quickly, "No, you don't understand," his servos gripped his upper arms. "If anyone with my type of model, Pit, if any type of Seeker at all sees my wings like this, seeing that I can't fly like them anymore..." he paused, shaking his helm as he turned his back on the shorter mech.

The Seeker's optics closed as he lowered his helm, his servos tightening around his upper arms, "...I-I'll just be the laughing stalk of all of Vos."

Knock Out rested a servo on one of the ex-Commander's shoulders, "Then we won't go to Vos but you should visit there some day."

"Some day, maybe, but right now isn't a good idea," Starscream said, shaking off the medic's servo from his shoulder before walking towards the balcony.

Knock Out watched him stop at the windows, not bothering to step out. He glanced at the floor for a second as he turned a bit before looking back up at the Seeker, "Just, don't leave the apartment while I'm gone for work okay. Bumblebee should be here soon so both of you better behave."

He didn't get an answer from the Seeker but he knew that he heard him clearly. He turned and walked for the door. He paused just as the door slid open, glancing at the Seeker from over his shoulder. He was about to remind him about the idea that he had yesterday but decided not to.

What Knock Out didn't know though was that that was what Starscream was thinking about. The idea of the red mech's... it wasn't something that he could easily forget.

He let out a heavy sigh when he heard the door close when the medic finally left for his work. He took all the time that he had through the night to think about Knock Out's idea but he still ended up not liking it. He even thought about any outcome that may happen if they were to go out together, all ending in a way that he did not like at all.

He honestly didn't know if it was just his nervousness about the whole thing getting to him or if it was his claustrophobia acting up because he could feel his frame beginning to shake slightly. He turned and headed for the door. He honestly didn't care what Knock Out just told him, he was feeling cramped in the apartment and he really needed to go for a walk to clear his mind.

So, out of the apartment he went and down the hall to take the lift to the ground floor. The faster he was on ground level, the faster he was going to be outside for a much needed walk.

He made sure that Knock Out was no where to be seen as he left the whole apartment complex and turned down onto the walkways. He didn't care where he walked to, he just needed time to think and somewhere less cramped.

* * *

Starscream kept walking. He didn't turn any corners or take any overpasses that went over the frequently used roads. He didn't run into anyone since most of the bots were driving on the roads in their vehicle-mode or flying above.

He glanced up at the bots that were flying. He could clearly tell that most of them were flying ships and some were in actual vehicle-modes. Non were Seekers though, that was for sure. Just regular flyers.

He shook his helm and looked back forward, not being phased at all that some of the bots that chose to walk would walk around him as he went by. He didn't mind it, neither did he mind the stares.

Like Knock Out had said before, back on the subway. They probably have never seen a Seeker before.

Speaking of the red medic, that plan of his swarmed the Seeker's processor and he grit his denta. He was still really unsure if he should go on with it.

He heard laughing and stopped in his tracks. He looked over to see that he was about to walk right by a large park, one that was public to the city. Just from where he was, he could see large crystals protruding from the ground, all sporting different colours that shimmered when the light of the sun hit them just right.

He walked up to one of the large crystals, being amazed by how fast it had grown to get that large.

He heard more laughing and looked up just in time to watch a couple younglings running by, chasing each other as they laughed.

Starscream was surprised. He hadn't seen younglings, or even sparklings, in so many years. He watched them run off around some crystals and he found himself following the path that they took.

More laughter was heard and was growing louder as he turned the corner. He had to stop suddenly when a bunch of younglings ran by, almost running into him as they laughed. A young mech near the back tripped and fell face first into the ground.

Starscream's vents hitched at seeing him fall, watching him raise his helm and seeing the tell-tale signs of him about to cry. The ex-Commander found himself walking hesitantly up to the youngling. He knelt down onto one knee, his long talons carefully wrapping around his much smaller frame. He set him up on his pedes, holding him there as the young mech wiped at his optics before the tears had a chance to fall.

There was a mark on his forehelm and Starscream found himself wiping it away with his thumb-digit until it was gone. Once that was done, he looked down at the youngling, seeing that his optics were on him.

"Better?" he simply asked.

The young mech just nodded his helm.

Starscream patted the youngling's helm, "You'll be alright, you're tougher than you look."

The smile that krept up across the youngling's face was priceless.

Starscream looked over to the side to see all the other younglings waiting for their friend. The Seeker pushed the young mech lightly towards them, "Go on, play, and don't hurt yourself."

The youngling nodded his helm rather quickly and almost tripped again as he ran up to his friends. It only took a couple seconds before they all ran off again, laughing as they went.

Starscream got to his pedes. Something caught his attention and he glanced at his internal HUD as he turned around. Hmm, it appears that certain coding was activated. As he suspected, it was the one that dealt with protecting all younglings and sparklings. He snorted, he didn't even realize that it was activated.

"You're lucky Seeker."

Starscream didn't react fast enough and he ran face first into something. He gripped his faceplate, "Argh! Fragging piece of..." he swore to himself.

There was a deep chuckle that came from right in front of him, "Or not. I guess that's what you get for paying more attention to your internal HUD than your surroundings. It's dangerous you know, you never know who you will run in to."

Starscream paused, the rubbing that he was doing to the now sore spot on his faceplate stopped. He blinked a couple times, his gaze moving up. His optics widened when he saw that he had indeed ran in to someone. Someone who was taller than he was.

He stumbled backwards away from the larger mech a couple steps. This mech was mostly an amber colour with black and silver accents here and there. Judging by his height, Starscream could only guess that he was taller than Dreadwing, almost Megatron height.

Shaking the initial shock that he had for this mech's height, he became rather annoyed and took a step forward, "Just what were you thinking!? Getting in my way like that!?" he spat.

A frown replaced the smile that this mech had, his optics narrowing slightly, "I was thinking about attacking you if you laid one scratch on that youngling."

Starscream frowned, unconsciously taking a step back at hearing the threat under his tone.

The mech's faceplate quickly softened and he smiled, "Since you didn't harm the youngling, I was going to let you know how lucky you were. I was this close to ripping out your spark," to emphasize what he meant, he lifted a servo, holding out his thumb and finger-digit with only a small space in between.

"Oh, uh... I guess, uh, thanks are in order?" Starscream asked, being rather unsure if that was the right thing to say.

"You're welcome," this mech said rather cheerfully.

Starscream raised a browridge, looking him up and down oddly. Some of this mech's features were rather familiar to him. Soon, something behind the mech caught his attention and his optics widened, "Y-you-you're a-a... a SEEKER!?" he finally sputtered out.

"Yep!" he then proceeded to bow rather dramatically, his large and lowered wings flaring out a bit as he did so. "Cinderfall at your service," he said then straightened back up. "And who may you be?"

Starscream opened his mouth to talk but stopped himself. He couldn't tell this Seeker his real name. His name would instantly give away who he is. Was, to be exact. He cleared his throat when a name came to mind, "It's, uh, Skybreak."

For a second there, Starscream thought Cinderfall knew he was lying about his name but the large Seeker's expression and mood didn't change.

Cinderfall looked down at Starscream's wings, "So, Skybreak, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to your wings? Judging by the model of Seeker you are, your wings should be up, not down."

Starscream frowned, glancing down at his lowered wings. He crossed his arms, "I-I don't want to talk about it," the last thing he needed was a Seeker finding out that he lost the ability to fly because his wings decided to freeze up in a way that prevented him from transforming into his flight-mode.

"I get it, its personal," Cinderfall said as he raised his servos in defense.

"No, its just..." he paused, shaking his helm, "... I-I'm not ready to tell another Seeker about it."

Cinderfall nodded his helm, "Understandable," he said and one of his wings suddenly twitched. He looked up at the sky, his optics narrowing.

Starscream frowned, "What is it?"

The large Seeker grit his denta, "There's a storm coming, most likely acid rain."

Starscream frowned, "I better get back then so I don't get caught up in it."

Cinderfall looked down at the shorter Seeker, smiling, "We should meet again sometime. Same time tomorrow then?"

Starscream's helm tilted to the side a bit, "Pardon?"

Cinderfall laughed, "I asked if you wanted to hang out. I don't get to see other Seeker's that much since they would rather stay in Vos. Would you like to meet up same time, same place tomorrow from today?"

Starscream didn't give it much thought because it'll give him an excuse to leave the stuffy apartment, "Sure, I guess. I don't have any other plans."

Cinderfall grinned, "Great, see yeah tomorrow then," he said before back-flipping, transforming into a Cybertronian jet at the same time. He immediately shot to the sky just when the last piece shifted into place.

Starscream watched him fly, envying him for the fact that he could transform and fly. He shook his helm and turned back the way he came in. He was pretty sure Bumblebee was back already and most likely panicking.

Oh, what a funny sight that would be.

* * *

**Cinderfall was honestly the first name that popped in my head. If you know any character, not specifically a Transformer character, whose name is Cinderfall, this is purely just coincidental because I don't know any other character with that name.**

**Anyway, Cinderfall is going to be appearing more often. He's part of the plot that I have laid out.  
**

**What do you think is the significance of Cinderfall?**


	13. Chapter 13

**Woop! Here's the next chapter.**

* * *

"What do you mean Starscream isn't in the apartment!?" Knock Out yelled, almost putting on his brakes after Bumblebee had just given him the news through comm. link. Apparently Starscream didn't stay when he asked him to. He should have expected that he wouldn't listen.

.:I mean just that. I showed up in the apartment and he was no where to be seen.:. Bumblebee replied, sounding rather panicked.

"Just hold on and I'll be back there in a few minutes. Do not call anyone else. Especially the Enforcers. I don't want all that work to keep him from being arrested go to waste."

There was a short silence on Bumblebee's side before he heard him sigh, .:A-alright. I'll wait outside and see if I can spot him.:.

The scout disconnected the call just as Knock Out took a few turns until he found himself going back the way he came, heading back towards the apartment. Knock Out took a couple minutes, thinking if he should call him. He groaned, deciding that he should.

He engaged his comm. link, "Ratchet?"

.:What is it?:. came the old mech's gruff voice.

"I'm going to be a little late coming in."

Ratchet groaned, .:Don't tell me; you got a scratch on your finish and you need to buff it out.:.

Knock Out growled a bit, "Hey, I can't fix anyone without looking my best," he swore he could feel the old medic's amusement coming through the comm. link. "That's not why I called though."

.:Go on.:. he sounded rather impatient.

"Starscream left the apartment," no reason to beat around it. There was no answer from the old mech so he continued, "He was there when I left for work but he was gone when Bumblebee showed up. The two of us are going to go look for him when I get back to the apartment so I'm going to be late coming in."

Ratchet's tone became serious, .:Do that and be sure that you get a good explanation out of him. Comm. me back once you find him and find out why he left without the company of Bumblebee.:.

Knock Out would nod his helm if he could in vehicle-mode, "Will do," he said just as he pulled up in front of the apartment. Just as he transformed into robot-mode, Bumblebee rushed out of the apartment.

"Did you see him at all while you were driving back?" Bumblebee asked.

Knock Out frowned, "No, I didn't. I wasn't even looking because I needed to contact Ratchet to inform him what was going on."

Bumblebee frowned, "What did he say?"

"He said for me to look for him," the red mech paused for a second. "He sounded pissed."

"That's Ratchet for you," the yellow mech looked both ways down the walkways. "So, should we split up?"

Knock Out nodded his helm, "You go that way and I'll go this way. Comm. me if you find him."

Bumblebee nodded his helm and went off to the left. Knock Out began walking to the right. It shouldn't be too hard to spot the Seeker because of his wings and all. He mentally slapped himself; he wouldn't be able to spot his wings because they would still be in their lowered position.

He couldn't comm. the Seeker either because his comm. link was removed.

He grit his denta. This was going to be harder than he originally thought. Well, it shouldn't be too bad since not many bots take the walkways.

* * *

Starscream kept walking in the direction of the apartment, taking long strides to get there faster. He looked up at the sky, seeing that there was dark and eerie clouds rolling in. Cinderfall was right, it looked like there was an acid storm coming in.

He glanced down at his lowered wings. He guessed that the reason that he couldn't feel the sudden drop in atmospheric pressure, letting him know if there was a storm coming, was because of his wings being stuck the way they were.

All Seekers can feel the drop in atmospheric pressure through their wings. Starscream hoped that the reason that he couldn't feel it was because he had his wings stuck in their lowered position, not because of some internal damage in them.

He felt a shiver go down his spinal strut. He should get Ratchet to check that out for him.

Something hit his shoulder and he hissed when it stung. He glanced over and saw a small burn mark. He grit his denta, feeling another hit his chest. Great, it was starting to rain now. Good thing it wasn't one of those sudden down pours, then that would have been a problem.

A drop hit his wing and he picked up the pace. No way was he going to get stuck out in the rain. He frowned. He honestly was starting to miss the rains back on that mud ball of a planet called Earth. You could actually stand out in the rain there without having to worry about being burned alive from the acid.

He looked up to see how far he was from the apartment but almost stopped in his tracks when he saw Bumblebee running towards him.

"Starscream! There you are," he called, catching up to him and having to walk fast beside the Seeker as they walked back to the apartment.

"What do you want bug?" Starscream growled.

Bumblebee frowned, "What do I want? You just left the apartment without telling anyone. We had to go out and look for you."

"What? Am I not allowed to go for a walk?" Starscream then raised a brow in confusion. "We?"

"Oh, uh, Knock Out and I. I had contacted him when I didn't see you in the apartment," he put a digit to the side of his helm. "Speaking of which," he activated his comm. link. "Knock Out, I found him."

.:You tell him that he better pray to Primus that I won't strangle him when I get back.:. Knock Out's voice came through, sounding awfully angry.

Starscream saw the shocked look go across the yellow mech's features, "What he say?"

Bumblebee let out a strained smile, "He's, uh, rather relieved that you're okay."

Starscream narrowed his optics, "Is he now?"

"Y-yeah. He said that he is going to give you a big hug when he gets back."

Starscream didn't believe that one bit.

* * *

Knock Out stomped into the apartment complex, taking the lift up to his specific floor. He had his servos on his hips, tapping a pede as he waited. Once it stopped, he stepped out and rushed to his apartment, putting in the pass-code.

Just as the door slid open, he stomped in, "Where is he? I'm going to make him regret ever being created!"

Bumblebee stood up from sitting on the couch as Starscream turned around from looking out the windows where the rain was pouring down onto the balcony. The Seeker looked over at the yellow bot, "Relieved my aft."

Bumblebee just smiled sheepishly at him before looking back at the fuming red medic. His optics then widened, "Whoa, Knock Out, what happened to you?"

"Acid rain. That's what," Knock Out snapped.

Starscream thought that the medic was literally steaming with rage but that was actually the acid rain eating away at his frame... his paint job. Bumblebee and himself only had a few spots.

He snorted, "It's not my fault that you decided to go out and look for me. You could have just waited. I was on my way back anyway."

Knock Out stomped forward, shaking a digit angrily at the Seeker, "If you had just waited until Bumblebee showed up, he could have went with you and this wouldn't have happened."

Starscream crossed his arms, looking away from the medic, "Please. The Autobot scout wouldn't let me leave even when I asked."

Knock Out looked to Bumblebee who shifted uneasily, "I, uh, no one told me that he was allowed to leave the apartment. Even when someone would be there to look after him."

The ex-Commander turned on the yellow bot, "I don't need looking after," he spat.

"Either way, we're supposed to keep an optic on you," Knock Out said.

Starscream turned to Knock Out, baring his denta menacingly, "I'm supposed to be integrating back into society as a Cybertronian and not a Decepticon. So that's what I was trying to do. How can I possibly do that with bots following me wherever I go?"

Knock Out stepped closer, "Someone needs to keep watching you so..."

"What? So I don't attack a random bot just for kicks? So I don't find any possible Decepticon followers to attack the Autobots with their backs turned?" he growled, uncrossing his arms to hold out his servos and sharp digits in a menacing way. "Did you ever think that I honestly don't care about the Decepticons anymore? That I want to actually live my life and not try to survive through it?"

Knock Out paused then, backing away from the Seeker and his sharp digits that could do more damage to his finish than the acid rain. Speaking of acid rain, it had stopped eating away his paint job, leaving random spots of silver here and there on his usual red frame. Good thing it was only the surface because he honestly didn't want to have to deal with any scarring.

From where Bumblebee stood, he saw that both ex-cons in front of him were calming down from their yelling.

Knock Out sighed, his servos going onto his hips as he glanced away, "I can't say that I never thought that because I knew that you wanted to change," he glanced back at the Seeker, seeing that he was looking more calm. "To be honest, I trust you enough to not do anything wrong."

Starscream gestured to Bumblebee, "Than why have an Autobot constantly on my back?"

"I trust you enough but that doesn't mean that everyone else does. Having Bumblebee here to check up on us both and to keep an optic on you when I can't will keep the higher ups off of my back," Knock Out explained.

Starscream crossed his arms, grumbling, "In my opinion, I think everyone is just overreacting about this."

Knock Out shook his helm, "Of course they're going to overreact, they don't fully trust you because of your past."

"What about you? You were a Decepticon."

"Yeah, but ever since the war ended they've grown to trust me and that was years ago," after seeing the Seeker's defeated look, he sighed. "You're just going to have to be patient."

Starscream looked down at his pedes.

Knock Out rested a servo on the Seeker's shoulder, "Next time you want to go out, let one of us know and I may let you go alone but right now it would be best to have one of us accompany you."

Starscream nodded his helm.

"Why did you leave in the first place?" Bumblebee asked, mentally thanking Primus that the rather heated conversation between the two ex-cons had died down.

Starscream raised his helm and looked over at the yellow mech, "Because I'm a Seeker, if I stay cooped up long enough my claustrophobia starts to act up. I left because I was feeling cramped in the apartment," he then glanced at the medic. "I also wanted some time to clear my helm and think things through."

Knock Out crossed his arms, having a feeling that the Seeker was talking about that dating idea.

"Where exactly did you go? You were pretty far from the apartment when I found you," Bumblebee then asked.

Starscream stood straighter, "I walked until I ended up at a park. I got to finally see the new generation of younglings since the war ended."

"Oh, you got to be careful around them Starscream," Knock Out said. "Being the new generation, bots are rather protective over them. Even when they're not their creators."

Starscream snorted, "Yeah, I kind of figured that after literally running into someone. Didn't help either that he was a Seeker so he practically threatened me for being near the younglings."

One of Knock Out's browridges rose, "A Seeker? I bet that ruined your plan to hide the fact that you can't fly."

The ex-Commander grit his denta, "He did ask about my wings but I didn't tell him what was wrong with them. Don't think I'll ever tell him or any other Seeker for that matter."

Knock Out frowned then, "What do you mean by that?"

Starscream rolled his optics, "He asked if I wanted to hang out or something since he doesn't see other Seeker's that much."

Knock Out's optics widened then, "Wait, he asked to hang out?"

Starscream frowned, looking at the medic oddly, "Yeah, why?"

The red mech stepped closer, grabbing the Seeker's shoulders, "What did you say? What did you specifically say?"

Starscream tried to step away from Knock Out but he had a strong grip on his shoulders, "I said 'Sure, I guess. I don't have any other plans'."

A rather large grin went across the medic's features which really confused the Seeker, "Do you know what this means?"

"No."

Knock Out chuckled, "You were practically just asked out."

It took a second for realization to hit and Starscream's optics grew wide.

Knock Out shook the Seeker a bit, "And you said yes."

* * *

**Dun dun duuuun!**

**Pfft, yeah, I know, it's not really that much of a cliffhanger.**

**Don't worry, Knock Out is going to fix his paint job.**

**So, with that said, Bumblebee knows something is up. Honestly, it was never planned for Bumblebee to know about Starscream wanting to date until last minute.**

**Until next chapter.**


	14. Chapter 14

**The best part of camping, I can bring my laptop and work on chapters that I'm stuck on without the distraction of the internet. I was stuck on how to start this one and my recent camping trip helped. I hope I can post the next chapter in a shorter amount of time than this one.**

* * *

The sound of the washrack turning off was heard and not long after Knock Out walked out, having a satisfied smirk on his faceplate. He didn't do mornings but after he had a good wash, he always felt better and more awake. This morning he found that he felt way more refreshed.

He walked down the hall and stopped, his smirk fading once he saw Starscream. The Seeker had his arms crossed and he was pacing rather hastily in front of the windows, wings twitching every once in awhile.

Knock Out rested a servo on his hip as he shifted his weight to one pede. He shook his helm lightly, knowing all too well why the ex-Commander looked so agitated and... nervous.

Day Before

Starscream stared at the medic in shock, "Wh-what?"

Knock Out's grin grew, "You were asked out and you said yes," he said again. Not even a second later, the medic could feel the Seeker's frame shaking under his servos that were still on his shoulders.

Starscream's optics began to frantically look around, his mouth moved as he tried to say what came to mind but there was nothing. He soon backed out of the medic's grip on his shoulders, putting his servos to his helm as he tried to put his thoughts together.

Bumblebee was surprised to hear that someone had actually asked the ex-Decepticon out. Now he was confused and curious about the Seeker's reaction. This should be nothing new to him. Right? He looked to Knock Out for an explanation, "Am I missing something here?"

Knock Out looked between the yellow mech and Starscream, seeing that the Seeker was giving him a pleading look. The medic knew that he was trying to tell him, without words, to not tell the young mech that he has never been in a relationship. He shook his helm, "He's going to find out sooner or later since he'll be here for a long while."

Starscream just groaned and turned his back on them, walking to the window to look out it. He was still trying to sort through his thoughts but so far he's having no luck.

The medic looked back at Bumblebee, gesturing a servo to the Seeker by the window, "Starscream has never been in a relationship before. Plain and simple."

Bumblebee's optics widened slightly as he looked over at the ex-Decepticon by the window, "Really!?"

Knock Out nodded his helm, "Yes and since the war is over he's been thinking about it a lot lately. But since he has no experience whatsoever, he's been rather nervous so I've been giving him a bit of advice on how to start out," he looked over to where the Seeker was, smirking. "Seems like I can skip a few things on how to ask someone out when someone already asked him."

Starscream turned around then, "But he didn't specifically ask me if I wanted to go out with me. All he asked is if I wanted to hang out tomorrow."

Knock Out waved a servo at him, "Pfft, its the same thing. The way I see it, he asked to hang out so he could get to know you better. What about you? Would you like to get to know him better?"

"I-I don't know, I only just met the guy."

"You did say he was a Seeker. Don't you want to get to know someone who is the same frame?"

Starscream's optics narrowed, "First of all, yes he is a Seeker and no he is not the same frame as me. He is the type of Seeker where his wings are naturally in the lowered position."

Knock Out raised his servos in a frustrated manner before lowering them again, "Well sorry if I wasn't specifically told what he was and wasn't. So, don't you want to get to know him or not?"

The Seeker looked really unsure. He looked down to watch himself twiddling his digits together, "After what had happened during the war and all, I don't think I can trust him."

Knock Out rested his servos on his hips, "You trust me don't you?"

Starscream glanced up at him then, "Well, yeah."

The medic lifted a servo to gesture to the young bot beside him, "And Bumblebee? Do you trust him?"

Starscream's digits stopped twiddling together to look at the yellow bot properly, "If he doesn't tell anyone about this I will."

Knock Out looked at Bumblebee, "Do you promise not to tell anyone about Starscream's secret about the fact that he has never experienced anything to do with relationships?"

Bumblebee nodded his helm quickly, "Of course. I would want to keep that as a secret myself."

"Good," Knock Out looked back at Starscream. "The war happened yet you trust us. What makes us any different from him?"

"I knew you when the war was still going on. Now that the war is over, I can't exactly trust anyone new right now," the Seeker explained.

Knock Out shook his helm, "You said you wanted to find your significant other and yet when one, who has the potential to be that, practically falls in front of you, you flee? I know that you can be cowardly Starscream but this is a new low. Especially when your life isn't even in danger."

Starscream's servos gripped his helm as he shook it, groaning in frustration as he sat down on the chair, "I know. I just... " he paused, his helm lowering, "... I just don't know what to do now. I didn't expect this to happen so soon."

Knock Out walked closer to the Seeker. He knelt down to one knee in front of him, resting a servo against his red chest, "You asked for my advice and I have given it and I'm still going to continue to give you more. In my opinion, you should try to get to know him, date him, trust him. For all we know, he could be the one that you've been looking for, your significant other. Maybe even your future bonded."

Starscream snorted, "I wouldn't say that."

Knock Out smiled, "It's a possibility but you've got to trust him first. Trust him with all your spark. If it doesn't work out in the end, then you could say that you have experience being in a relationship with someone and you can use that experience on someone else that could be that potential significant other."

Starscream looked down. His servos were on his lap, a digit tapping lightly against his leg. At least a minute went by before he nodded his helm slowly, "I still don't know what to do though."

Knock Out patted the Seeker on the shoulder, "That's what I'm here for but we'll need to continue this later. First things first." he grimaced and looked down at himself and at the silver dots covering his red frame. "I need a good buffing," he glanced at the Seeker from under the crest of his red helm, giving him a smirk. "Care to help me?"

Starscream fixed the medic with a glare, "Forget it."

Knock Out pouted, "Spoil my fun," he said then stood. "After I'm done buffing, I need to seriously get back to work. Ratchet won't be happy if I miss the whole day," he looked over at Bumblebee. "Keep an optic on him."

Bumblebee smiled, "As always."

With that said, Knock Out was already on his way to his washrack. He was so ready to rid himself of those horrid acid rain induced silver dots.

Present Day

Knock Out had left not long after fixing his paint job that day. He worked hard to lighten Ratchet's load of patients, explain to Ratchet what had happened and also got the old medic to keep Starscream's relationship problem a secret. It wasn't hard to explain since the medic was suspicious already after seeing the Seeker reading that one datapad, about what to do in a relationship, back when he was still a patient at the hospital.

When Knock Out got back to the apartment, he informed Starscream that Ratchet knows his secret as well and promised to keep it.

Starscream asked why in Cybertron would he tell the medic, it was supposed to be a secret.

Knock Out explained that Ratchet already knew something was up so it wasn't really a secret. Nothing could get past the old medic. Also, Bumblebee was told since he was going to be at the apartment almost every day and would find out anyway. Those were going to be the only ones that would know the Seeker's secret and they were honestly very logical choices.

Starscream had to agree.

Speaking of Starscream, Knock Out watched him press the button to slide one of the windows open so he could step out of the balcony, resting his servos on the railing. Most likely to clear his mind and to help him think better.

The medic walked out onto the balcony as well and up beside the Seeker, leaning against the railing as he crossed his arms. He tilted his helm a bit to get a better view of the ex-Commander's faceplate, "Recharged yet?"

Starscream's helm didn't move but his optics did move to look at the red mech, "You know the answer to that."

Knock Out let out a sigh, "You know you can't just stay awake like this, you'll end up crashing your processor soon if you don't recharge."

Starscream was quiet for a bit before letting out a rather tired sigh, "I'm fine."

"You don't sound like it."

Starscream grit his denta, "Can we please drop it."

Knock Out looked into the apartment. He didn't want to drop the matter since it was a serious thing but he couldn't exactly persuade the Seeker to do something that he didn't want to do. Especially when it was something that he was scared of doing. He shook his helm lightly, he was going to have to drop it. For now. He pushed off from the railing, patting the ex-Commander on the shoulder, "Come inside, I'll get working on your wings."

Starscream didn't move but his wings did twitch a couple times, "Can we do it out here? I don't feel like going in yet."

Knock Out raised a browridge to that, "Alright," he said. He was about to take a second to figure how this would work but that thought process stopped when he watched the Seeker's wings twitch. He tapped a digit against his chin, "Starscream, I need you to do something."

"Like what?" Starscream was about to turn around but was stopped when the red medic placed a servo on his shoulder.

The red mech looked up at him, "I want you to lower your wings."

Starscream gaped at him, "I-I can't do that. You know I can't move them and even if I could, they're already at their lowest point."

Knock Out fixed him with a glare, "Trust me," he stepped out of the Seeker's sight to stand a few steps behind. "I want you to lower them and then raise them as high as you can. Do it slow so it won't hurt as much if it does."

Starscream gripped the railing and willed his wings to move down. To his surprise, they did but only slightly and with no pain.

Knock Out smiled, "That's good, now raise them as high as you can."

Starscream did so but he didn't go far until his wings began to hurt. He willed them to keep going but they didn't move any farther.

"Okay Starscream, you can relax your wings now," Knock Out said and when the Seeker did, his wings went down a bit to a point that they didn't hurt.

Knock Out didn't move from where he was, "That's great Starscream, you're able to move your wings up a decent amount. If we keep up with easing your wings back up, they should be back to their original position in the next month or so."

Starscream let out a relieved sigh, "Thank Primus."

"Now, I want you to have your morning energon and have a good wash before we leave."

Starscream blinked a couple times before quickly turning enough to look over at the medic, "I beg your pardon? We?"

A rather cheeky grin went across the red mech's lips, "Yes we."

"Y-you're seriously not thinking about coming along are you? Don't you have work today?"

Knock Out looked at him as if he was offended, "If you must know, Ratchet gave me a couple days off since we've recently got some new fully trained medics that the old rust bucket wants to break in on his own. He thought it would be best if I wasn't around for it so I don't interrupt. Also, someone needs to guide you through this date when you have no clue what to do."

Starscream sputtered, "B-but he'll surely know that something is up if someone is right there to guide me through this. He'll know that I have never been in a relationship right then and there."

The red medic raised a digit, "Ah, but I have come up with a solution to help with that," he then suddenly removed a datapad from his subspace. In just a quick few seconds, he typed something on it, pulled a cord out of it and connected it to the side of the Seeker's neck.

"Hey, what gi..." he was suddenly cut off when some data was put into him and was done in a mere second before Knock Out removed the cord from his neck. Starscream rubbed his neck, "What did you just do?"

Knock Out smiled, "I re-activated your comm. link," when the Seeker opened his mouth, the red mech lifted a digit to let him know that he wasn't done. "But you can only contact three bots. Me, of course, Ratchet and Bumblebee. If you want to add someone to it, you'll have to ask me to do it for you. A precaution because of the whole higher-ups thing."

Starscream's browridges furrowed, "Why?"

"So if you get stuck somewhere on this date and need advice, you can use your inner comm. link to contact me for it. I will be out of sight but I'll be able to see you and give advice, even when you don't ask for it," Knock Out rested his servos on his hips, a satisfied smirk across his lips. "Does that answer your question?"

All Starscream could do at that moment was nod his helm slowly.

"Good," Knock Out then turned around to head into the apartment. "Now, lets have our morning energon and you better have that wash. We'll be heading out for this date as soon as you're done."

* * *

**The plot begins to thicken.  
**


	15. Chapter 15

**You guys deserve this longer chapter.**

**I did post it in a shorter amount of time than the previous chapter. Next chapter I'm going to try and post it sooner since I know exactly how its going to start and how its going to end. Unlike this one when I was trying to finish it, I couldn't figure out how to end it.  
**

* * *

Starscream stared at his reflection in one of the crystals growing in the park. He tried to make himself look calm and confident but he just kept reverting back to looking nervous and down right unsure about this.

.:Calm down Starscream, I can see your wings shaking from over here, which I might add is a good sign that they are getting better.:.

Starscream grit his denta, watching his own expression turn to one of annoyance, "That's easy for you to say Knock Out, you're not the one who is new at this."

The Seeker heard a chuckle come through his comm. link, .:On the contrary Starscream, guiding someone with your predicament is completely new to me.:.

Starscream turned around then, looking through the park for the vain mech. Once he saw the familiar red paint job, which wasn't really that hard to spot, he glared daggers at the grounder sitting on a bench, "What is that supposed to mean?" he snarled.

Knock Out had a feeling that he was being glared at and glanced up from the datapad he was reading to see the Seeker looking at him menacingly across the park. He smiled, "What I meant was that I never dealt with anyone as inexperienced as you before," he explained. He glanced down at his datapad for a second before looking back at the Seeker, sending him a seductive smirk, "Which, I might add, can be dealt with personally if you let me," he couldn't help but wink at the ex-Commander after that.

Seeing the Seeker's faceplate suddenly become flushed was rather amusing to see. Even more so when he turned his back on the red mech, .:I told you I was going to think about it.:. Starscream growled through the comm. link. .:It's too late now to be thinking about that idea of yours anyway.:.

Knock Out nodded his helm, looking back at his datapad, "True," he tapped his datapad a couple times, interested in if there was any news being broadcasted that would catch his interest. New energon deposits being found and how they are being monitored. The amount of neutrals that have shown up in the passed week since there was still some stragglers out there coming to Cybertron. Damage reports on what the acid storm from the day before caused which was surprisingly not many despite many paint jobs being ruined.

There was nothing of interest. Typical.

He glanced back up at the Seeker and noticed that his arms were crossed now and he was tapping his pede as a sign of impatience or nervousness. He hummed to himself, thinking of a way to pass the time, "I'm curious Starscream, what does this Seeker look like? His colour? Height?" he smiled, even though the ex-Commander wouldn't be able to see it with his back turned. "Better yet, what's his name? You never did tell me what it was."

Starscream rolled his optics from where he stood, "If you must know, his name is Cinderfall."

.:Nice name. What does he look like?:.

Starscream thought back to when he saw the large Seeker, trying to remember things about him, "He's mostly an amber colour I can tell you that much, with black and silver here and there. His wings, like I said before, are naturally in a lowered position. Unlike mine. Hmm, he's a large Seeker as well."

.:How tall though?:.

The ex-Commander had to ponder that for a moment, "I would say about Dreadwing's height, maybe even a little taller. Hard to tell."

He heard a snicker come from the medic on the other end of the comm. link and he could just picture him smirking. That usually wasn't a good thing, .:Since he's taller and much larger than you, there is no doubt that he is going to be the dominant one.:.

Starscream sputtered then, "KN-KNOCK OUT!?" he practically shrieked, faceplate becoming flushed from the mere thought. He calmed himself so he wasn't yelling into his comm. link anymore, "W-we don't know if this is even going to go there."

Knock Out chuckled, .:Don't worry Starscream, no matter if it does go there or not, you're going to do just fine. Remember, I'll be here every step of the way.:.

Starscream grit his denta and glanced at his pedes. He glanced over his shoulder at the red mech, "Promise that you won't interfere. All I want is advice and tips through this. Leave any comments that you have for when he's gone."

The Seeker watched the medic raise a digit and made a crossing motion over his chest, resting his servo on that spot after, .:I'll hold any comments to the end. From the rude to the vulgar. I promise you that.:.

Starscream smiled then and looked back at the crystal, "Forgot to mention, Cinderfall doesn't know my real designation."

.:Oh?:.

"I was kind of concerned that he may know my reputation by name alone so I gave him an alias that I thought of on the spot when he asked. It's Skybreak."

.:Hmm, I could have thought of something better but I guess it would have to do.:.

Starscream rolled his optics then. He soon heard a jet engine and turned to see an amber coloured Cybertronian jet coming towards the park. He didn't move from his spot, his lowered wings beginning to shake slightly again from nervousness. He found himself biting his lower lip a bit and willed himself to stop, resorting to biting his glossa slightly instead.

Knock Out noticed how Starscream reacted to seeing the jet and his optics watched the alt-mode begin to circle around the park, "Remember Starscream, stay calm and show confidence. Almost like when you were ordering everyone around back on the Nemesis. When Megatron was laying on that hunk of slab and hooked up to life-support," he paused then. "But less menacing and demanding."

He saw Starscream nod his helm slowly but his optics went back to the Cybertronian jet as it slowed down when it went towards the Seeker, parts shifting as it transformed into the large Seeker known as Cinderfall.

What Knock Out didn't count on was an odd feeling he got when seeing the large amber Seeker walk towards the smaller Seeker. Something that didn't sit well with him. He wasn't sure if it was the way he held himself or how he walked towards the ex-Commander but for some reason he was getting a bad vibe.

He narrowed his optics. He was going to keep a close optic on him.

As Cinderfall was walking up to Starscream, he chuckled, "I actually didn't think that you were going to show up."

Starscream forced himself to calm down once again, convincing himself that the amber Seeker just wanted to hang out. He shrugged his shoulders, "I didn't have anything else better to do, other then stay in a cramped apartment."

.:And it wouldn't kill you to open a couple windows.:. the Seeker made sure he used his inner-comm. link when directing that to the red medic. .:It gets rather stuffy.:.

Knock Out huffed, .:If you want the windows open so badly, you can do it yourself,:. he replied.

Starscream narrowed his optics, glaring over at the red mech slightly who was located behind the large Seeker in front of him.

Cinderfall frowned at seeing the shorter Seeker's look, "If you don't want to that's okay, we can do something else."

Starscream sent a confused look at the amber Seeker, "Pardon?"

"I had asked if you wanted to walk with me through the park but you had this look so I thought..."

The ex-Commander shook his helm, "Oh, no. A walk is just fine. I just received a rude message... from a friend."

.:Rude!?:.

.:Drop it, Knock Out.:.

The smile returned to Cinderfall's faceplate, "Hopefully they don't ruin your day," he stepped to the side then, gesturing to one of the paths that go through the park. "After you then?"

Starscream blinked a couple times before taking an uneasy step towards the path, Cinderfall falling into step beside him. The shorter Seeker crossed his arms after awhile, unsure of what to say.

"So Skybreak, did you get back to your place in time before the acid rain showed up yesterday?" Cinderfall asked.

Starscream let out a relieved sigh, glad that he didn't have to start the conversation, "A few drops did land on me. It didn't do any physical damage so I wasn't too worried about it."

Cinderfall chuckled, "I guess the plus side of having your colour scheme is that you don't have to worry about others seeing any noticeable marks. I spent close to an hour fixing my paint. I won't say I'm vain, just embarrassed."

Starscream snorted, "Sounds like you're a little vain to me. Don't worry though, you won't be nearly as vain as someone I know."

.:Don't bring me into this Starscream,:. Knock Out said into the comm. link as he followed them a fair distance behind them. .: In fact, when in the beginning of a relationship, don't talk about your problems or other people you know. Just talk about yourself and your interests. Don't talk about anything relating to your past either of course, don't want him knowing who you actually are. Also, talking about your past is such a turn off.:.

Starscream decided to take that advice, filing it away in his memory banks for later use.

"I'm curious. How vain is he?" Cinderfall asked.

"A lot but I'll tell you more later."

.:Good, now change the subject. Ask him a question since he already asked you one,:. Knock Out had to walk around a couple younglings running by, making sure they don't accidentally run into him and scratch his paint job. .:Ask him what he does.:.

"Oh, uh, wh-what do you do? If you don't mind me asking," Starscream asked the taller Seeker.

Cinderfall shrugged his shoulders then, "Not much really. I help report weather conditions in a designated area. In fact, I was on a short break when I met you yesterday. I do the early morning shift."

Starscream frowned, "Does that mean that you are working now?"

Cinderfall laughed, "Yep, but that doesn't mean I can't talk to you while I work," he looked ahead. "Other then that, I usually just fly around and hang around my place. Now that I met you though, I guess I can add 'hanging with a gorgeous Seeker' to that list."

Starscream stopped in his tracks then, optics wide as his faceplate flushed slightly, "Wh-what?"

Knock Out saw the ex-Commander stop so he stopped himself but hid behind a cluster of crystals so he wouldn't be spotted by the amber Seeker.

Cinderfall chuckled lightly, rubbing the back of his helm, "I admit, one of the reasons I talked to you yesterday was because I found you to be rather attractive. I wanted to ask you out but I wasn't sure if you had someone already. As a way to find out, I asked if you wanted to hang out," he paused then. "So, would you like to go out or do you already have someone?"

"Oh, um.. I, uh... I... " Starscream couldn't find out what to say. His faceplate was growing warm from his blushing and his mind was drawing a blank.

Know matter how much he wanted to tell the ex-Commander that he didn't like the vibe that he was getting from Cinderfall, he couldn't. He had already promised that he would reserve his comments at the end and only give him advice. He took a steady vent before addressing the Seeker through the comm. link, .:Alright Starscream, this is it. Be as calm as you can as you tell him that you are not seeing anyone else and that you would like to go out with him. It's easy.:.

Starscream barely heard the red medic but he heard most of what he was telling him. He let out a heavy vent to calm himself before clearing his vocals. Despite having done that, his lowered wings shook slightly, "No... I-I mean, yes... wait, no, I'm not seeing anyone so I-I wouldn't mind... going out w-with you," it sounded like his vocalizer was about to short out for a second there.

Knock Out groaned in frustration, slapping a servo over his faceplate. No matter how cute it was watching and hearing the Seeker stumble over himself like that, that wasn't being calm. Not calm at all.

A wide grin went across the amber Seeker's faceplate, unphazed by the fact that the ex-Commander stumbled over his words, "That's great. How about we count this as our first date. A stroll through the park seems appropriate for it."

Starscream's gaze went to the ground, "Yeah, I guess it's alright," he said more to himself.

Cinderfall patted one of his shoulders, "Come on, I believe there's a rust stick stall around here somewhere," he said then began walking along the path ahead of the ex-Commander.

Starscream looked back to see if he can spot Knock Out but he couldn't see him. He was about to think that the medic abandoned him but he soon saw the red mech slightly step out from behind a cluster of crystals.

He watched Knock Out make a shooing motion with a servo, .:Go on. Don't want to keep him waiting.:.

Starscream could tell that something was bothering the medic. He snorted and turned around to follow after the amber Seeker. Knock Out probably had a bunch of rude comments to say and he was doing his best to hold them back.

After locating a rust stick stall, Cinderfall purchased one for each of them and they went over to sit down on a nearby bench. Without them knowing, Knock Out went up to get a rust stick for himself before going over to sit on a ledge to enjoy it while watching the two, ignoring the stares that he was getting from femmes in this much crowded area.

Cinderfall looked down at Starscream, "Since you asked me what I do, I'm curious about what you do."

Starscream shrugged his shoulders, slouching in his seat, "I can't really do anything right now."

Cinderfall raised a browridge at that.

The ex-Commander saw that look and he let out a heavy vent, "Medical issue. Can't really do anything until its taken cared of."

The amber Seeker nodded his helm slowly, "Does it have something to do with your wings?"

Starscream paused at that and he grit his denta, wing twitching slightly as he looked away, shoving the rust stick in his mouth and biting a huge chunk off it.

Cinderfall frowned, "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked that. Must be a touchy subject."

Starscream just nodded his helm slowly, trying to enjoy the rust stick to keep his mind off it.

"So, if you're not doing anything, where are you staying?" Cinderfall asked.

"At a friend's place."

Cinderfall smiled, "Is this the same friend who is way more vain than I am?"

Starscream snorted, "Sadly, yes."

.:Oh ha ha.:. Knock Out said over the comm. link.

Cinderfall finished off his rust stick and then stood up from the bench, "Well then, shall we call it a day? I still have quite a few things to do before getting off work. Even after that, I'm kind of busy for the rest of the day. Tomorrow morning though, would you like to hang out again? Make it another date?" he asked as he tossed the stick that was leftover into a nearby trash bin.

Starscream stood, tossing his stick into the trash, "I don't have any plans tomorrow so I wouldn't mind getting out of the apartment again."

Cinderfall rested a servo on the shorter Seeker's shoulder and pulled him closer, wrapping his arms around him in a hug, "Great, then its a date."

Starscream's optics widened, his frame becoming stiff from the sudden physical contact. He felt his faceplate become warm slightly.

Cinderfall pulled away, taking a few steps back, "See you tomorrow then Skybreak," he then jumped into the air, transformed into his alt-mode and took off to the sky. The sound of his engine echoing through the air.

Once he was gone, Knock Out got up from his spot, tossing his leftover stick into a trash bin before standing beside the ex-Commander, "He seems friendly."

Starscream crossed his arms, servos gripping his upper arms, "He's alright."

Knock Out rested a servo on his hip, shifting his weight to one pede, "I wouldn't get too friendly with him."

Starscream frowned, giving the red medic a confused look, "I thought you wanted me to get to know him, gain the relationship experience that I've been wanting?"

"Yes, I know I said that but something isn't right about him."

Starscream turned so he was facing him more, "How so?"

"I don't know, I'm just getting a bad vibe from him."

That caused the Seeker to raise a browridge, "A bad vibe?"

Knock Out nodded his helm, "Yeah and the fact that he's just way too friendly."

"What if that's just the way he is?"

The red mech crossed his arms, "I wouldn't count on that."

A thought came to mind and Starscream narrowed his optics, "You're jealous of me, aren't you?"

Knock Out frowned, "What? No."

The Seeker pointed a digit at him, "Admit it, you're just jealous that I may have found my significant other before you did."

Knock Out glared, "That's not true. He just doesn't sit well as someone I would want to get along with."

"Well, you're not the one who is getting to know him now are you."

Knock Out went to say something but stopped himself. He narrowed his optics, "So you like this Cinderfall?"

Starscream shrugged his shoulders, "He's decent enough," he then glared at the red mech. "And I'm not going to dump him just because of a bad vibe of yours."

"I'm not saying that you should dump him, just want you to be careful."

Starscream just waved it off, turning away to walk back to the apartment, "Whatever you say Knock Out."

The red mech was pretty sure that the Seeker wasn't going to listen to his warning. One thing was for sure, he wasn't jealous. He was happy for him.

... wasn't he?

* * *

**Hmm, since this story is planned to be pretty long, I'm going to put a list of other story ideas that I got and I wanted to know which one you guys would like to read next after this one. I would most likely not post the popular ones first, I just want to know which ones interest you guys the most so I can get myself working on them more than the others. Depends though if I get stuck on them or not. **

**You don't have to pick, its completely your choice. (If I finish them before this one is done, then I'll start posting them then. I'm not going to start posting multiple stories at once when neither of them are finished. I'll end up messing up and posting the wrong chapter to the wrong story.)  
**

**I have a list of how many picked each so far from when I had my fanfic "Miracle" going on. (I had thought I lost most of the results but I found them.) **

1\. Its Not Always Easy - 16 (This one is rather popular but I'm waiting until I get a decent amount of chapters done before I start posting it.)  
2\. Beauty Can Be The Beast - 2  
3\. Darkness - 4  
4\. Easing The Pain - 2  
5\. Prisoners - 1  
6\. Protocol - 4  
7\. Silenced - 2  
8\. Terrorcon'd - 5  
9\. Toys - 4  
10\. Unusual Predicament - 14

**Pick whatever one's that you find interesting.**

**1\. Title: Its Not Always Easy**  
**Summary: After the events in 'Miracle' and 'Beginning Problems'. With a sparkling to call their own, Knock Out and Starscream had learned the troubles of raising their daughter so far and believe that raising Cloudwing will get easier but it doesn't get easier when her parents are well known ex-Decepticons. It gets more "fun" when Knock Out wants another sparkling.**  
**Rating: T**  
**Genre: Family**

**2\. Title: Beauty Can Be The Beast**  
**Summary: What if, all this time, Knock Out had been hiding the fact that he's part sparkeater. Having to keep the monster inside by eating the sparks of the drones when no one else is around, keeping his frame well cleaned and buffed as a way to make him feel sane. Things start going down hill when he has to start eating the drone sparks more frequently as they start to lose their effect. KOxSS**  
**Rating: T (M later)**  
**Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Romance**

**3\. Title: Darkness**  
**Summary: After an incident with the contents of an odd container that both Autobots and Decepticons were fighting over to find out what was inside, Starscream ends up with acid shot in his face from said contents. Stumbling and walking in complete darkness, Starscream now has to cope with being blind until his problem can be fixed... unless its permanent. Later SSxKO**  
**Rating: T (M later)**  
**Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Romance**

**4\. Title: Easing The Pain**  
**Summary: Takes place years after the fight with Unicorn and Optimus' sacrifice. After an accident with one of Shockwave's work-in-progress projects, Knock Out and Starscream are sent back to Earth. Not only that but they are somehow the size of an average human but to blend in more, they use their holoforms. Also, something is not right with the planet Earth. After having an encounter with a human femme, they find out why a few days later. No CanonxOC. KOxSS**  
**Rating: T (M Later)**  
**Genre: N/A**

**5\. Title: Prisoners**  
**Summary: Many mechs and femmes start going missing and the odd thing about it is that they used to be Decepticons. Some think that they are planning to restart the war. This is not the case when Knock Out finds himself waking up in a prison like atmosphere with a certain grey Seeker being in the cell next to him. Later SSxKO**  
**Rating: T**  
**Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Romance**

**6\. Title: Protocol**  
**Summary: Prime AU. Everyone knows about certain Seeker codings. The need to fly. Being great sparkling-sitters to not only their young but other's as well. But what if there was a protocol, certain coding, that has been laying dormant until there is only one pure-Seeker left. It was said that this protocol was a myth. Starscream finds out that that is no longer the case. Later KOxSS**  
**Rating: T (M later)**  
**Genre: Family, Hurt/Comfort, Romance**

**7\. Title: Silenced**  
**Summary: After one of Knock Out's little projects goes wild, he is left with the inability to talk. He's not sure how long it'll take for his vocals to heal but that doesn't bother him since he doesn't see anything wrong with not being able to talk for awhile. He later regrets it though. Later SSxKO**  
**Rating: T (Don't know yet if it'll become M or not)**  
**Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Romance**

**8\. Title: Terrorcon'd**  
**Summary: Prime AU. What if Starscream HAD been bitten by Terrorcon-Breakdown? Just like what happened to Airachnid. Knock Out tries to figure out a cure for him while having to deal with and manage the Seeker's hunger for energon from a living thing and not from a cube. How can something like this stay hidden from the rest of the Decepticons? Later SSxKO**  
**Rating: T**  
**Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Romance**

**9\. Title: N/A **  
**Summary: I had watched Transformers Prime a year or two ago, sometime between near the end of season one and beginning of season two. Had stopped watching until I decided to watch it when it was at the beginning of season three. Became a fan then. So this is a fanfic of me collecting the Decepticons of Transformers Prime. As toys of course. I'll be adding each toy in order of when I get them but I'll change up on HOW I get them. Oh, and by the way, THEY COME TO LIFE!**  
**Rating: T**  
**Genre: N/A**

**10\. Title: Unusual Predicament**  
**Summary: A crossover between Transformers and Ironman. How Knock Out ended up in Tony Stark's garage.**  
**Rating: T**  
**Genre: N/A**

**They're all mainly Starscream and Knock Out pairing based stories since there isn't enough of them.**


	16. Chapter 16

**I should have finished and posted this chapter like five days ago but I ended up procrastinating and my brain decided to make up two more stories. ERGH! (The two new stories are pretty cool though. Well, I think they're pretty cool, don't know about you guys.)  
**

**If you're curious, the last two in the list at the bottom will be the two new ones I thought of. You can choose them too if you want.**

* * *

"So, how was the date?" Bumblebee asked from where he sat on the couch.

Starscream narrowed his optics at the yellow bot and his rather cheeky grin from over the energon cube that he was taking a sip from. He lowered the cube and looked down at it, swirling the low grade around in the cube. He shrugged his shoulders, "It was satisfactory."

Bumblebee raised a browridge, "Satisfactory? So not good or bad?"

Knock Out came around the couch, handing the Autobot an energon cube, "He had such a great time that he is going to be seeing him again tomorrow."

Bumblebee smiled as he received his energon, "That's great."

Starscream glared at the red mech, "Knock Out doesn't think so."

Bumblebee looked at the medic who had sat down beside him on the couch, "What does he mean by that?"

Knock Out sent a glare in the direction of the Seeker as he took a sip from his energon, "All I said was that Cinderfall, his date by the way," he added when he saw the yellow bot's confused look. "Gave me a bad vibe."

Bumblebee frowned, "A bad vibe? As in you don't trust him?"

Knock Out nodded his helm, "Exactly," he said before taking a sip from his energon.

Starscream snorted, "I think its more than that," when the young bot looked in his direction, he continued. "I think Knock Out is just jealous."

"Jealous?"

Starscream nodded his helm, "Yes, jealous," he glanced at the red medic who was currently sending him a glare. "Jealous that I may have found my significant other before he did."

"I told you that wasn't true. I don't trust him and that you should be careful around him before you get hurt."

Starscream grit his denta and took a larger than usual sip from his low grade energon.

Knock Out let out a frustrated sigh, "Listen Starscream, I care about the ones who are closest to me and that includes you. I'm helping you with your relationship problems and I would hate to see you hurt by the one you're in a relationship with. Believe me when I say that breakups aren't pretty because mass majority of the ones I've been in were ended by me."

The red mech saw the Seeker's gaze on him, letting him know that the ex-Commander was listening. He continued, "I would end the relationship because they were doing things that I either didn't like or I found very uncomfortable. Most of the time it was something I didn't like. Their attitude towards me changing, trying to get me to buy things for them, practically dragging me everywhere just to show me off."

Starscream was watching and listening intently which made Knock Out shake his helm, "Basically what I'm trying to say is that the one you are with begins to show their true colours over time and most of the time, especially for me apparently, they become the complete opposite of what they were when you first met them."

The ex-Commander stared down at his cube, watching the energon ripple every time he tapped the side of the cube with a sharp digit.

"Just be careful, okay Starscream. It doesn't hurt to be wary around someone who you just met. If Cinderfall ends up being someone different than who he is to you now, the breakup will hurt less and be much easier to handle since you were ready for it to happen," Knock Out explained.

Starscream just nodded his helm.

"And I can bet that if something bad does happen, Knock Out will be there to help out in anyway," Bumblebee added.

Knock Out smiled, nodding his helm, "Of course I will."

Starscream glanced up at the two, "I guess keeping a close optic on him wouldn't hurt."

"That's great," Bumblebee said happily, finishing off his energon.

Knock Out nodded his helm, sipping his energon, "Good," he glanced at the Seeker's energon cube. "You should try and finish that last little bit off, you never have finished a full cube of low grade yet."

Starscream looked down at his cube but then shook his helm, "Can't finish it."

"Come on, try. You only have a few sips left," Bumblebee said, trying to encourage him.

The Seeker grit his denta, "No, I'm done."

Bumblebee pouted, "Aww, but you're so close."

Knock Out shook his helm, smiling, "Maybe tomorrow."

"Maybe," Starscream said to himself as he watched the blue energon swirl around in the cube. He frowned slightly, noticing that his sight was becoming slightly out of focus so he blinked his optics a couple times. It helped somewhat.

Knock Out finished off what was in his cube before standing from the couch, taking Bumblebee's empty cube, "So, 'Bee, what was it that you were saying when you showed up here?"

"Oh yeah, apparently I'm being ordered to stay here overnight tonight," the yellow bot explained.

Since Starscream found that he was finished with his energon, his tanks practically threatening him to not drink anymore, the Seeker stood from the chair he was sitting on to hand over the cube to the medic. Once he was on his pedes though, he stopped. For some odd reason his frame felt oddly... sluggish.

His optics widened in realization, "Kn-Knock Out..."

Knock Out didn't hear the wariness in the Seeker's tone as he took the unfinished cube from him. Knock Out shook his helm at what Bumblebee just told him, "Honestly, can't they just ease up on all this. There is nothing for them to worry about."

The red medic soon heard metal hitting metal behind him as well as feeling the vibrations through the floor. There was a short silence before they turned and looked over to where Starscream was standing.

What they didn't expect to see was Starscream laying face down on the floor.

"STARSCREAM!" Knock Out yelled and rushed to the fallen Seeker's side. He shook the ex-Commander but he was getting no response.

Bumblebee was on the Seeker's other side, "What happened to him?"

"I-I don't..." the medic stopped himself for a second, a thought coming to mind. He shook his helm, not believing what he was thinking. He rested a servo against the back of the Seeker's helm, optics widened in shock, "He crashed!?" he said, his thoughts answered by how hot the Seeker's helm felt.

Bumblebee frowned, dread making its way into his tanks and vocalizer, "How bad?"

The red mech didn't answer, he wanted to make sure it wasn't as bad as he was thinking it was right now. He found a latch at the back of the Seeker's helm and unlocked it. Just the simple action of moving it up slightly to lift it open caused a bit of smoke to pour out from behind the panel. Knock Out's optics widened and he gasped, "No."

Bumblebee wasn't an expert but he knew that if anything from the helm was smoking, it wasn't good, "How bad is it?" he dared to ask again.

Knock Out's helm snapped towards the yellow bot, panic in not only his optics but also in his tone, "We need to call Ratchet. NOW!"

* * *

Everything had gone black quickly and it didn't take long for the familiar string of information to begin popping up.

**Systems Rebooting...**

**Energon Levels... 52%**

**Spark Pulse... Normal**

**Damage Report:...**

**Leg Strength... 87%**

**Wing Motor Functions... 19% Responsive**

**T-Cog... Online**

**Weapons... Disabled**

**Systems Check... Finished**

**Powering Up... 3%**

**... 5%...**

**... 8%...**

Starscream could feel his processor aching as he was slowly coming out of his unconscious state. Judging how slow it was taking, he was waking up on his own.

**... 13%...**

**... 17%...**

He felt that he was able to move a digit or two so he tried opening his optics, only being able to open them slightly. He could see a bunch of shapes and colours moving about rather slowly in the corners of his vision. He couldn't make out who or what they were since he couldn't find the strength to turn his helm to the side.

Odd, he couldn't hear anything at all.

**... 24%...**

**... 30%...**

That was a nice jump in the power up and he began hearing... something, as if everything was muffled. His audio receptors must be just powering up. He soon noticed that the shapes and colours were beginning to look complicated.

Soon, one of the coloured shapes rushed over to him and he could feel a faint touch to his shoulder. He tried to blink a couple times to help clear his vision but he was only able to get one, very slow blink in. Even with the shape being in his line of vision now, he still couldn't make out who it was.

**... 37%...**

**... 42%...**

Another one of the shapes came over into his line of vision and he could hear some muffling coming from them but he couldn't quite make it out.

A bright light was suddenly shined into his optics but he didn't flinch. He felt so sluggish that he just couldn't find the strength to even move anymore as he stared up at the ceiling and the two blobs.

**... 53%...**

**... 59%...**

**... 66%...**

Hmm, seemed like he was powering up faster now. That lag in the beginning was really annoying.

He didn't realize it until now but the blobs were gaining detail and judging by their shapes, he could clearly tell that he knew them but it was still too early to tell.

The muffling was becoming more dignified and he could clearly hear the pitches changing to correspond with each shapes' personality.

**... 70%...**

**... 78%...**

He stayed laying there as he began to recognize the shapes. One was clearly Knock Out and the other was the old Autobot medic Ratchet. He watched as Knock Out turned to look at the old medic on the other side of the Seeker. He had to strain his audios to hear but he could pick up what he was saying.

"Ratchet... is he going to be alright? Is he going to be the same?" the worry could clearly be heard coming from the red medic.

The old medic just shook his helm slowly, "With these kinds of cases, its hard to tell. Crashes caused by lack of recharge are more severe than your standard ones that are caused by stress or too much information pouring in all at once. Considering this has happened before and how severe this crash was, I wouldn't be surprised if there is already something different about him."

Knock Out looked shocked then, "He crashed before?"

Ratchet nodded his helm, "When I was working on fixing what was damaged in his helm, I noticed that there were signs of previous smaller crashes."

"How many?" the red mech dared to ask.

The old medic shook his helm, "Hard to tell, two... maybe three others before this one."

**... 99%...**

**... 100%...**

**Power Up Complete**

"F-five... act-actually," Starscream managed out. He still felt sluggish but it was good to be hearing and seeing things clearly.

The two doctors had a second of shock when the Seeker spoke but soon the older of the two began checking over him, shining a light in his optics first.

Starscream hissed, flinching away from the light this time, "Wo-would you s-stop that," he snapped.

Ratchet ignored him and began scanning the Seeker.

While the old medic did this, Knock Out rested a servo on the Seeker's upper arm, "How are you feeling?"

Starscream grit his denta, "A-along with having a slight processor ache, I feel like slag."

"The processor ache is a side affect to adjusting to the new part," Ratchet explained as he scrolled through the information on his datapad.

Starscream frowned, being confused, "New... part?"

Knock Out nodded his helm, "Ratchet had to replace something in your helm that was too damaged to repair. Everything else was repaired but we don't know how much they have damaged you already."

Starscream's optics widened then, "Wh-what?" he managed out.

"Be honest with us Starscream, do you feel anything different about yourself? Is there anything that feels out of place? We need to know so we could do our best to adjust you through the change," the red mech explained.

The Seeker stared up at the ceiling, mouth hung open slightly from the shock. After a bit of laying on the med. berth and trying to feel if there was any change in him, he closed his mouth, frowning. He glanced at the red mech then the old medic, seeing that the old bot was looking at him rather than his datapad. He shook his helm slowly, staring back up at the ceiling, "I-I don't know. Everything seems the same to me. Nothing feels out of place."

Ratchet frowned as he looked back down at his datapad, tapping things on it, "That's not necessarily a good thing."

"What do you mean by that?" Knock Out asked.

Ratchet looked at the younger medic, "It means that the change is a part of him now. If he does something that he normally doesn't do, one of two things could happen."

"Which is?" the ex-Commander asked from his laying down position.

"Either you see it as something normal to you and you don't register the change at all..." he paused, tapping a digit on the side of the datapad he was still holding, "... or you do feel the change but you can't do anything about it, having to brave through the change until it passes. The change is a part of you now, so anything you say or do could trigger it without you knowing until its too late."

Starscream grit his denta, "How... unfortunate," he said.

Ratchet nodded his helm as he turned and began fiddling with something on a nearby table, "Indeed it is. If you had recharged like you are supposed to, this wouldn't have happened."

The Seeker groaned, "I told you, I can't recharge."

"You can't or you won't?" Ratchet had stopped just to throw that over his shoulder which caused Starscream to pause and look the other way.

Starscream noticed that Knock Out's servo was still resting on his upper arm and he looked up at the red mech to see him glaring over at Ratchet.

"That was really uncalled for," Knock Out said in a disapproving manner. "You know he has a reason why he won't."

Ratchet turned around nodding his helm, "Yes, I know but he really needs his recharge. That's why you are going to force him to."

Starscream turned his helm back to look at the old medic, "What?"

The red medic instantly knew what the old medic was getting at, "A forced shutdown? I thought we only did that when we are going to perform a surgery on someone?" Knock Out asked.

"Yes, but in this case it'll be allowed. It may not be as effective as a normal recharge but it'll be enough to keep Starscream from crashing again," Ratchet handed a device over to Knock Out. "Until he starts going into recharge on his own, you'll have to force him to shut down into a recharge-like state. It's the only way to prevent incidents like this from happening again."

Knock Out nodded his helm, looking down at the device that Ratchet gave him, recognizing it as one of the devices they use to force the recharge-like state on someone before they perform any sort of surgery on them. He glanced over at Starscream, seeing the Seeker looking up at him with a frown.

Starscream grit his denta, "Like I said before, how unfortunate," he said then began to sit up, groaning slightly from the strain. "Ugh, how long have I been out anyway?"

Knock Out subspaced the device before helping the Seeker to sit up, "Almost three days now."

Starscream turned quickly to face the red medic, "What!?"

Knock Out nodded his helm, "Honestly, it felt longer. At least it wasn't as long as when we first found you. It took you almost a full week to wake from your repairs then."

Starscream shook his helm quickly, "No no no, you don't... " he paused, glancing at Ratchet. He grit his denta then looked back at the red mech. "Cinderfall."

A rather sheepish grin spread across Knock Out's features.

"Way ahead of you," came Ratchet's voice.

Starscream turned to the older medic, seeing that he had a cheeky grin. His optics widened slightly before turning on the red medic, glaring, "You told him!" he hissed.

Knock Out chuckled, "He already knew that you haven't experienced being in a relationship before so why not let him know that you have found someone."

Starscream lowered his helm as he grumbled, "Should have known better to not share any of my secrets with you."

Knock Out snorted.

Ratchet patted Starscream's shoulder, "Relax, he informed me that you were going to miss a date with someone and you had no way of contacting him. I went through some medical files to look for this Seeker to get his number."

Starscream seemed to relax, "And?"

Ratchet glanced over at Knock Out who rested his servos on his hips, "I got a hold of him."

Starscream felt his once relaxed frame become tense again, "You did what!? I thought you didn't like him."

Knock Out rolled his optics, "I may not like him but he is the one you had a scheduled date with. All I did was inform him that I was a friend of yours and that you had an accident, having to take you to the hospital because of it."

"What did he say?" Starscream asked.

Knock Out's expression softened slightly, "He asked if you were alright and if there was any way that he could see you. Of course I said no because you were still recovering and hadn't woken up yet," he paused, letting out a small sigh. "He sounded really worried about you."

Starscream looked at the medic in mild surprise, "R-really? He was worried about me?"

Knock Out's optics narrowed slightly, "Yes. To ease his worry, I let him know that I would get you to call him back as soon as you were able to."

"Which is not now," Ratchet added.

Starscream looked at the old medic, "Why can't I?"

Ratchet lifted his datapad, shaking it slightly in front of the Seeker's face, "I still have a few scans and tests to do before I can permit you to do anything. Right now though, I would like you to rest."

Starscream raised a browridge, "Rest. As in?"

Ratchet gestured to Knock Out, "A good recharge. Or in this case, a forced shut down."

The Seeker instantly looked worried.

Knock Out removed the device, that Ratchet gave him earlier, from subspace. He turned it on, "Don't worry Starscream, nothing will happen to you. One of us will be in the room at all times to keep an optic on you."

Ratchet nodded his helm, "I need to do some tests and scans anyway while your under to make sure everything is okay."

"Oh, okay," Starscream said uneasily.

Ratchet helped the Seeker to lay back down, "It'll be alright. You just got to lay there as Knock Out forces the shut down."

Starscream yelped slightly at feeling a sudden sharp pain in his arm and he looked over at the red mech, seeing that he stuck in his arm what looked like a needle attached to a spiraled cord that was then attached to the device. He was expecting him to give an apologetic look but he never did, his focus trained on the device as he pressed a few buttons.

Ratchet noticed this as well and he could tell that there was something up with the young medic. He turned his attention to the Seeker though once he saw that Knock Out was finished pressing buttons, "You'll begin to feel really sluggish and you'll see your vision darken. But don't fight it. Once you're under, you won't dream and you'll be waking again before you know it."

Starscream nodded his helm slowly, "Yes... I know," his words sounding slightly slurred as he tried to keep his optics opened as his vision darkened. He found that he couldn't keep them open for very long and closed them, everything becoming quiet around him.

Ratchet waited until he heard Starscream's systems power down before addressing the red medic on the other side of the med. berth, "Knock Out, what is bothering you."

Knock Out looked up at the older medic, "There's nothing bothering me."

"There is because there was no reason for you to put the prong in Starscream's arm that aggressively. What's wrong?"

Knock Out realized his servos were tight around the device and he loosened his grip before he had a chance to snap it in half. He removed the needle end of the device from Starscream's arm before putting it into subspace. He shook his helm, turning to the door to leave, "It's none of your concern Ratchet. Now I must go, there is other patients in Post-Op to attend to."

As Ratchet watched him leave, he couldn't help but think that Knock Out's current foul mood must have something to do with Starscream's new date. It was obvious after all, considering the moment he started talking about him to Starscream, he grew more and more agitated.

Ratchet shook his helm, turning to his datapad before scanning the unconscious Seeker. He couldn't dwell on it right now, he had work to do.

* * *

**So, I was going to put that first section at the end of the previous chapter because of the way it ended to the line break but the previous chapter was already ridiculously long so I decided to put it in the beginning of this chapter instead. Helped to lengthen this chapter which was good.  
**

**Here's the score for each story idea so far. The previous score and the now score is there too:**

1\. Its Not Always Easy - 16 - 19 (This one is rather popular but I'm waiting until I get a decent amount of chapters done before I start posting it.)  
2\. Beauty Can Be The Beast - 2 - 7  
3\. Darkness - 4 - 8  
4\. Easing The Pain - 2 - 4  
5\. Prisoners - 1 - 4  
6\. Protocol - 4 - 9  
7\. Silenced - 2 - 5  
8\. Terrorcon'd - 5 - 7  
9\. Toys - 4 - 6  
10\. Unusual Predicament - 14 - 19  
11\. Apocalypse -  
12\. Cherish -

**1\. Title: Its Not Always Easy**  
**Summary: After the events in 'Miracle' and 'Beginning Problems'. With a sparkling to call their own, Knock Out and Starscream had learned the troubles of raising their daughter so far and believe that raising Cloudwing will get easier but it doesn't get easier when her parents are well known ex-Decepticons. It gets more "fun" when Knock Out wants another sparkling.**  
**Rating: T**  
**Genre: Family**

**2\. Title: Beauty Can Be The Beast**  
**Summary: What if, all this time, Knock Out had been hiding the fact that he's part sparkeater. Having to keep the monster inside by eating the sparks of the drones when no one else is around, keeping his frame well cleaned and buffed as a way to make him feel sane. Things start going down hill when he has to start eating the drone sparks more frequently as they start to lose their effect. KOxSS**  
**Rating: T (M later)**  
**Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Romance**

**3\. Title: Darkness**  
**Summary: After an incident with the contents of an odd container that both Autobots and Decepticons were fighting over to find out what was inside, Starscream ends up with acid shot in his face from said contents. Stumbling and walking in complete darkness, Starscream now has to cope with being blind until his problem can be fixed... unless its permanent. Later SSxKO**  
**Rating: T (M later)**  
**Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Romance**

**4\. Title: Easing The Pain**  
**Summary: Takes place years after the fight with Unicorn and Optimus' sacrifice. After an accident with one of Shockwave's work-in-progress projects, Knock Out and Starscream are sent back to Earth. Not only that but they are somehow the size of an average human but to blend in more, they use their holoforms. Also, something is not right with the planet Earth. After having an encounter with a human femme, they find out why a few days later. No CanonxOC. KOxSS**  
**Rating: T (M Later)**  
**Genre: N/A**

**5\. Title: Prisoners**  
**Summary: Many mechs and femmes start going missing and the odd thing about it is that they used to be Decepticons. Some think that they are planning to restart the war. This is not the case when Knock Out finds himself waking up in a prison like atmosphere with a certain grey Seeker being in the cell next to him. Later SSxKO**  
**Rating: T**  
**Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Romance**

**6\. Title: Protocol**  
**Summary: Prime AU. Everyone knows about certain Seeker codings. The need to fly. Being great sparkling-sitters to not only their young but other's as well. But what if there was a protocol, certain coding, that has been laying dormant until there is only one pure-Seeker left. It was said that this protocol was a myth. Starscream finds out that that is no longer the case. Later KOxSS**  
**Rating: T (M later)**  
**Genre: Family, Hurt/Comfort, Romance**

**7\. Title: Silenced**  
**Summary: After one of Knock Out's little projects goes wild, he is left with the inability to talk. He's not sure how long it'll take for his vocals to heal but that doesn't bother him since he doesn't see anything wrong with not being able to talk for awhile. He later regrets it though. Later SSxKO**  
**Rating: T (Don't know yet if it'll become M or not)**  
**Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Romance**

**8\. Title: Terrorcon'd**  
**Summary: Prime AU. What if Starscream HAD been bitten by Terrorcon-Breakdown? Just like what happened to Airachnid. Knock Out tries to figure out a cure for him while having to deal with and manage the Seeker's hunger for energon from a living thing and not from a cube. How can something like this stay hidden from the rest of the Decepticons? Later SSxKO**  
**Rating: T**  
**Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Romance**

**9\. Title: N/A **  
**Summary: I had watched Transformers Prime a year or two ago, sometime between near the end of season one and beginning of season two. Had stopped watching until I decided to watch it when it was at the beginning of season three. Became a fan then. So this is a fanfic of me collecting the Decepticons of Transformers Prime. As toys of course. I'll be adding each toy in order of when I get them but I'll change up on HOW I get them. Oh, and by the way, THEY COME TO LIFE!**  
**Rating: T**  
**Genre: N/A**

**10\. Title: Unusual Predicament**  
**Summary: A crossover between Transformers and Ironman. How Knock Out ended up in Tony Stark's garage.**  
**Rating: T**  
**Genre: N/A**

**New ones:**

**11\. Title: Apocalypse  
Summary: TFP Human AU: When a zombie apocalypse had broken out, two friends that consider themselves brothers, were split apart during the evacuation of their city. During the time they were apart, both were able to find survivors to follow them so they could all survive together. After a three year period, both groups find each other, some happier about it than others. (Possible Pairings)  
Language: English  
Rating: T (M Later if I decide to put pairings)  
Genre: N/A  
Characters: All of them**

**12\. Title: Cherish**  
**Summary: After the demonstration of a weapon backfires, Knock Out and a few drones were turned into sparklings. Megatron can't afford having any weakness aboard so he wants them dead. Obeying his awakened protective sparkling protocols, Starscream flees the ship with the red sparkling, away from the warlord's wrath. Now he has no choice but to take care of the sparkling. Yippee! *Sarcasm***  
**Language: English**  
**Rating: T **  
**Genre: Family, Friendship**  
**Characters: Starscream, Knock Out**

**I swear, that last one will have no romance in it. Its completely a Starscream and Knock Out friendship fanfic and because Knock Out will be a sparkling, it'll be family oriented as well. I picked a Knock Out sparkling one because I've seen and read some out there where the other members of the Nemesis are turned to sparklings multiple times. Starscream, Soundwave, Megatron. There isn't one that just has Knock Out as a sparkling. So, voila!**

**My brain seriously can't stop making stories but I am determined to write them, no matter how long it'll take me to finish them.**


	17. Chapter 17

**I love camping, it helps me think clearly and help me work on posting chapters sooner. This chapter is a little shorter than usual but not by much.**

* * *

Starscream sat there staring at the screen of the tele-comm. in front of him, feeling quite uneasy as he kept his optics on the string of numbers in the bottom corner. The number was Cinderfall's that Ratchet was able to locate for him.

He had yet to press the call button though.

Starscream kept looking between the call button and the screen, thinking back to that morning. After he woke from his forced recharge, he was about to have a small panic attack but he managed to calm himself down after seeing Ratchet in the room. He was pretty sure that he had offlined but seeing the old medic assured him that he hadn't.

Soon after that, Ratchet noticed that he was awake and informed him that he was cleared to leave sometime tomorrow. Everything was fine, yes, but he wanted to keep him for another night just to make sure. Despite that, the only other problem was his wings.

Before Ratchet left to attend to his other duties, he inclined the Seeker's berth so he was sitting up and in a more comfortable position. He even rolled over a tele-comm. on a trolly so the Seeker could make that call to his... date, let him know that he was fine and will be leaving the hospital later that day.

It's been almost half an hour now and Starscream only got as far as typing in the number to call him with. He found himself biting his glossa, trying to will himself to think of what to say to the amber Seeker. It shouldn't be too hard.

At least a certain red medic wasn't around to make things uncomfortable.

Starscream looked to the doors to his recovery room at that thought. Ever since he woke from his forced recharge-like state, he hasn't seen Knock Out at all. Not once.

The only reason he could think of as to why he hasn't visited yet was because Ratchet had him working hard. He wasn't going to call him through comm. link, just in case he was working. Don't want to mess him up.

Starscream took another moment of staring at the screen. He clenched his servo into a fist in frustration for a second before extending a digit and pressing the call button. He realized too late that he hadn't prepared what he was going to say once Cinderfall answered.

That just made his uneasiness worse and he began to prey silently that he didn't pick up. After awhile of waiting, he began to think that he wasn't going to pick up and that he wasn't even home. Now that he thought about it, Cinderfall had said that he works in the mornings.

Starscream snorted, mostly out of the fact that he couldn't believe that he forgot. He let out a mental sigh of relief, now having more time to think of what he was going to say to Cinderfall.

Suddenly, there was a click and a tired sounding "Hello?" coming from the tele-comm.

Starscream froze and moved his gaze from the power button to the screen, seeing the amber Seeker on it. His mouth moved with no sound coming from it for a second before shaking his helm slightly, clearing his vocals after, "Oh, uh, morning Cinderfall. It's Sta... Skybreak."

He grit his denta. He couldn't believe he almost let slip his actual name.

Once he heard Starscream's voice and saying who he is, Cinderfall practically perked up from his tired state and looked at his screen fully, "Skybreak!? Oh thank Primus you're alright!" he said, sounding rather relieved. "Are you okay? Is everything alright?"

Starscream blinked a couple times. He honestly didn't think that anyone would ever be worried about him. He unconsciously began twiddling his fingers together, "Yeah, everything is fine. Just had a little scare, that's all."

Cinderfall frowned, "Little scares don't usually end up with you in the hospital for few days," when he got a silent response from the smaller Seeker who only just glanced away, he couldn't help but ask. "What happened?"

Starscream's gaze went done to his servos, not bothering to stop his digits from fidgeting amongst each other, "I... I hadn't been recharging for awhile now, too much on my processor," he paused for a second to look up at the amber Seeker on the screen, he could tell by his expression that he knew exactly what happened. "I guess you could say that the lack of recharge finally caught up to me and I... ended up crashing."

There was a gasp from Cinderfall's end, "Everyone knows that crashes that are caused by lack of recharge are the worst kind. What were you thinking not getting any?"

"I had reasons, okay!" Starscream snapped. After seeing Cinderfall's shocked expression, the ex-Commander let out a tired vent as he placed his servos over his faceplate, resting his helm back in his reclined berth. "Sorry, I... I only just got up not that long ago from a forced recharge. Still kind of recovering from it."

Cinderfall's expression softened, smiling slightly, "Understandable," he paused for a second, contemplating something. He began to look a little worried, "If you don't mind me asking, was there any damage done during the crash?"

Starscream ran his servos down his faceplate until they were resting along his sides, keeping his gaze up at the ceiling, "I was informed that some things in my helm were repaired and one thing had to be replaced entirely," he glanced at the screen then, seeing that worried expression on Cinderfall again. He shook his helm, "It must not have been important because I feel no different than I was before."

Cinderfall nodded his helm, "That's good to hear," a smile began to form again. "Do you know when you're going to be released from the hospital?"

"Around tomorrow actually. Why?"

Cinderfall's smile grew, "Since I was given the day off for today and for the next couple days, I was going to ask if you wanted to have that date tonight if you were able to leave. Since you can't till tomorrow, we can have our date tomorrow, start of the evening. How about it?"

That's why he was home that morning, he had the day off.

Starscream glanced away, feeling his faceplate get slightly warm, "I-I would like that."

"Great!" Cinderfall said rather gleefully. "Want me to meet you right in front of the hospital? We can go for a walk or something from there and talk some more."

Starscream looked back at the screen, seeing a rather enthusiastic grin on the taller Seeker's faceplate. He nodded his helm slowly, "Sure."

Cinderfall's enthusiasm died down but it was easy to tell that he was still excited, "Can you do me a favor? When you get the chance."

"Depends what it is."

"It's about your friend, the one who called me to inform that you can't make it for the date."

Starscream frowned, "What did he do?"

Cinderfall chuckled, "Nothing. He did nothing. I just want you to thank him for me since I may not have the chance to do it myself," at Starscream's confused look, he continued. "It's for the fact that he called me about you not going to make it for the date that day."

Starscream nodded his helm slowly, "I will."

"You should thank him yourself as well."

"For what?"

Cinderfall's smile faltered slightly, "For anything. After talking with him for only a few minutes, I could tell that he needs it."

Starscream was silent as he refrained from looking at the screen.

"Skybreak."

Starscream looked up at the screen then.

Cinderfall's usual smile came back, "A simple thank-you can go a long way for mechs like him."

The ex-Commander blinked a couple times, glancing to the side in thought, "I'll think about it."

"Good. Now, I would like to chat more but I need more recharge to get me through the rest of today. You better do the same," Cinderfall chuckled.

Starscream shook his helm, "I have recharged enough for the day."

"So you're just going to sit there and do nothing until you're released?" the amber Seeker asked.

Starscream shrugged, "Most likely."

Cinderfall smiled, "Well, take care then and don't cause any trouble."

The ex-Commander snorted, "No promises."

Cinderfall just shook his helm lightly before closing his side of the call. Starscream shut down the tele-console and pushed it enough so it could roll a fair distance away on its trolly.

He laid back on the berth, letting out a heavy sigh. He had to admit, he was pretty drained at that moment but he still didn't want to recharge. He can just wait for tonight when Knock Out shuts down his systems for him with that little device of his.

Just as he began contemplating on what Cinderfall and him were going to do tomorrow besides talking, the door to his recovery room slid open and he glanced over to watch a familiar red mech walk in with a foul looking expression as he read over a datapad.

Starscream raised a browridge, "Knock Out?"

Said mech jumped and glanced quickly around before his optics met the Seeker's, "Oh, uh, morning Starscream."

"Is something wrong? You seemed... annoyed by something," Starscream couldn't help but ask.

Knock Out shrugged, waving the datapad he had in his servo around as he walked over, "I'm just a little peeved about what Ratchet has me signed up for for next week, no biggy. Just the ordinary life of the Commanding Medical Officer's Assistant," his gaze went on the tele-console for a second before going back to the datapad he had. "There is other little things bothering me but you don't need to concern yourself with them."

Starscream just nodded his helm slowly as the red mech walked up to his side. He watched him subspace the datapad, "Why are you here?"

"I need to rotate your wings. Since you've been out of it for the past few days, I hadn't been able to do that. With your surgery and recovery and what not," he patted the Seeker on the shoulder. "I'll need you to shuffle forward a bit so I can have some room to do this."

The ex-Commander did as he was told and shuffled until he was sitting right on the end of the berth, his legs dangling over the side. Knock Out sat himself behind the Seeker and gripped one of the wings gently before rotating it slowly.

Starscream didn't feel any pain until the red medic began raising the wing as he rotated it. They were getting better, that was for sure.

He tried waiting patiently but the growing pain was making it hard to do so, his digits gripping the end of the berth a little. Over a brief amount of time, the pain began to subside and he let out a relieved sigh.

Starscream thought back to what Cinderfall had said, "Cinderfall says thank-you."

Knock Out paused in his work, glancing at the tele-console, "So you called him?" when the Seeker nodded his helm at that, he continued with a slight frown. "What is he thanking me for?"

The ex-Commander shrugged his shoulders, "For calling about me not being able to make it for the date."

"I see."

Starscream grit his denta, lowering his helm slightly, "And, uh, Knock Out?"

"Hmm?" the red medic didn't halt.

"Th-thank-you," he took a short pause to clear his vocals. "For every thing th-that you've done for me."

Knock Out stopped then, lowering the wing in thought. He let out a tired sigh before smiling a bit, starting to rotate the next wing, "It's no problem Starscream, I'll always be there to help you out. No matter the circumstance."

* * *

**Eh, this chapter was slightly filler and slightly plot.  
**


End file.
